The Lowman Family
by ArabellaBlack25
Summary: Happy has an old lady before the start of the series who has a troubled past. They move back to Charming with their kid and chaos ensues. AU with two OCs and where Thomas Teller is alive.
1. Prologue

**Hi! So, this is something that has been inside my head for the past couple weeks. In the beginning, there's going to be a lot of background to set up for the rest of the story. There's going to be two OCs. Maya and someone else. After the prologue, it goes on with the main story line with the series. They're all Indian names in case you're wondering. **

**Also, this is set a few good years before JT dies and a couple years after Jax is born. I'm going to be assuming that Happy was in that charter before going to Tacoma, making him a few more years older, and that Otto and Lenny didn't go to prison just yet. The timeline might be a bit messed up, or a lot messed up. Let's just go with it...**

**disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing! **

Prologue

It sounded so medieval, having an arranged marriage. It wasn't something Maya wanted, but it was something that she had to do. There was no choice. It didn't matter what she wanted. It never did. She's met suitors that were just as bad as the previous. None of them had any backbone or could even look her in the eye. She kept resisting each and every single one of them until she just got fed up with her mother's complains.

'You need to pick someone, Maya,' her mother, Shila, told her in her furious voice that made Maya cringe. It was so whiny and it made Maya take a few deep breaths before turning to her mother. They had just gotten back from a lunch with a boy that clung on to his mother.

'Not him,' said Maya. 'He's practically a baby with his mouth still suckling at his mother's breasts.'

'Don't talk to Amma like that,' Yash snapped. Her bother, Yash, always the favorite. The golden child. The lap dog. He made Maya sick. She had to get married to a complete stranger while he would get to do whatever he wanted in life.

'Yash, it's fine,' said their mother without turning towards him. Her eyes were fixed firmly on Maya. Her voice always softened whenever she talked to Yash. They looked alike while Maya was the image of her father and the only one he would listen to. Shila and Yash envied the two of them. The bond between Maya and her father was nearly unbreakable.

'You have to pick someone to get married to, Maya,' Shila continued. 'What are you going to do with your life? Do you want to disgrace this family? Do you want to shame your father's name?'

'What family name?' said Maya, her mind not able to comprehend the sheer nonsense of the conversation. 'Appa knew about ten people, and more than half of them are dead. You know less than that and nobody even likes Yash. It's not me that's disgracing this family, it's the two of you.'

Yash made a move towards Maya, but Shila stopped him. She looked as though she didn't want. Maya has been slapped by her mother countless times. She wondered why nothing was happening right now, until she got the answer a few seconds later.

'Lakshmi's friend knows a boy that would be perfect for you,' her mother continued after a short break. 'She says he come from a nice family and has a job in America. He lives there and so will you. You and Yash will meet him and his brother tomorrow for lunch. Don't mess this up.'

Maya wanted to snort at the implication. She didn't mess any meeting with them up. They did that themselves. None of them were the type of people she would want to be in the same room with, much less spend the rest of her life with.

She didn't want to be married at all actually. She wanted to go to college, get a degree and move as far away from her family as possible. She wanted to be a doctor, like what her father wanted. Her father, Arjun, wanted her to go to college, get a good job and settle down with someone she liked and wanted. He didn't want her to be in an arranged marriage, even though he and his wife were in one. Shila was against her husband's idea and belief. She kept arguing that they're marriage worked and so can Maya's. The moment Arjun was dead and burned, Shila went looking for future son-in-laws. Maya never hated her mother so much until that day.

* * *

Yash kept saying the whole way to the restaurant was that he came from a good family, and Maya kept rolling her eyes. She didn't care if he came from a respectable family or if they begged on the streets, she wanted to know what type of a person he was. But of course, what she wanted didn't matter at all.

Maya wasn't impressed by Zamir. She wasn't impressed by his brother either, but at least he was trying to make conversation with her. Zamir wouldn't talk directly to her and kept looking at other people. Yash was happy with the pairing. The Rao family obviously came from money. They ordered the most expensive drinks and the most expensive food on the menu. They dressed sharply in suits that matched each other.

Maya knows that this marriage would make her mother and brother happy. The Nayar family was never poor, but they weren't rich either. They're house was good enough for them when Arjun bought it. There have been some renovations on it, but nothing too expensive.

Once the two of them got married, Maya would be able to get her hands on some of his money and give it to the remaining family. That was probably the scenario that kept playing out in her family's heads. They were so greedy for any type of recognition or money that they were willing to sell their own daughter to complete strangers.

* * *

Maya knew that the neighbour's daughter was also in an arranged marriage. Her name was Lalita or something like that. She was about ten or something years older than Maya, so bonding time between the two of them never happened. Once Shila started her quest for the perfect son-in-law, Maya asked the neighbour how Lalita's marriage was. Vijay, the father, said that they were both scared in the beginning, but soon became friends before falling in love with each other. They had two kids, both girls. They both recently moved to England since the husband got a job offer from there. He then showed Maya a picture of the family. They looked happy and the little girls were very pretty with their toothless smiles pointed at the camera.

* * *

Maya first resisted the marriage offer. She met Zamir again, this time without their brothers. Her impression of him hasn't changed at all. Actually, it lowered. He kept going on and on about his brother and some of his friends. He wouldn't even let Maya to ask questions or give her own input. He never asked her a single thing about her life, and she got the impression that he didn't care.

'He's a nice boy, Maya,' her mother said when Maya came through the door with a furious look on her face. She walked out of the restaurant and took the bus home. 'Why must you make everything so difficult?'

'I'm making everything difficult?' Maya repeated, her face twisting into a nasty scowl. 'I'm making everything difficult? Me? I didn't even ask for this! I never asked to me married to some stranger!'

'Stop complaining,' Yash said, sounding irritated. He was lying down on the couch watching TV with a lazy look on his face. 'There's nothing wrong with him.'

'He comes from a good family,' said Shila, her voice sounding like a plea for help. 'I know you want to find someone, fall in love and live happily ever after. That's what I wanted also, but, Maya, loves comes afterwards. You will learn to love him. I didn't love your father when I first met him, but it happened over time. Day by day, we grew to love each other. I just want the best for you. You will grow to love Zamir.'

Maya continued to scowl at her mother. Shila is acting as though Maya had a choice in the matter. She's acting as though it was completely up to her. That it was her decision. Maya knew better. She wasn't going to see anymore candidates because the two of them had already made up their mind. They wanted Zamir as the future son-in-law.

'You want me to marry him?' Maya asked slowly in a low voice. She sounded as though she was defeated in battle. She was worn down and just wanted the misery to end.

'Yes,' said Shila at once.

'Fine,' said Maya, wanting to cry. 'I'll marry Zamir.'

Shila's eyes popped out and she gave Maya a huge smile. She quickly hugged her daughter, took Yash's hand and walked to the telephone. They were going to call everyone they knew and tell them the good news.

Maya quickly made her way upstairs and took a shower. Under the hot water, she contemplated her future life. She was going to be someone's wife. A stranger's wife. She was going to give him many kids, make him food and do everything in the house for him. She was never going to get a job, or earn anything for a living. She would have to rely on the stranger. She was not going to be her own person. She was going to be some's puppet. Saying and doing all the things they wanted her to.

She slid down to the bathroom tiles and cried silently to herself.

* * *

He is a good boy. He comes from a nice, respectable family.

That's what Maya has been hearing for the past month. She's sick of hearing the same thing repeated over and over again. It was like a broken record.

Shila and Yamuna, Zamir's mother, did all the wedding preparations. Maya didn't want anything to do with it and her mother didn't fight her on it. She did, however, had to pick her own sari. She just went with the first thing she saw in the store. It was red and it did match her skin tone. She didn't care about the wedding, and she certainly didn't care about the sari either.

* * *

The night before the wedding, Maya thought about running away. She could just pack her clothes, grab her passport and jump out the window. She could go anywhere she wanted. She could go to Hawaii, or Australia, or maybe even Canada. She would be free. No one to tell her what to do. No one to get married to. She would be on her own. It sounded so sweet to her.

But that wasn't going to happen.

Tomorrow she was going to get married to Zamir and the day after she was going to go to America, destined to live her life as a stranger's wife.

* * *

The wedding was perfect; Shila wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The banquet hall was decorated beautifully. The two families were dressed like royalty. The groom was treated like a king. All that was missing was the happy bride.

But she wasn't.

Maya did look beautiful, she'll give herself that, but she was miserable. She was standing in the dressing room alone, staring at herself in the mirror. The sari clung on to her body, showing off the outline of her hips. Her black hair was covered by a gold red cloth. She plastered a fake smile on her face, making sure that she got used to that feeling.

She inhaled heavily and braced herself for the rest of her life.

* * *

The ceremony went by quickly. Maya let out a sigh of relief when it became dark outside but panicked quickly when she realized what was going to happen now.

* * *

Maya entered the bedroom in his parent's house. The whole room was decorated in flowers of different colours. The whole bed was covered in rose petals. The sight made her want to throw up. Zamir was already there, pissed drunk and fumbling with his clothes.

Her mother had already told her what was going to happen. She told her that it was going to be painful and that it was going to be over soon. No words of comfort left Shila's mouth.

It seemed like forever when it started. Zamir thrust into her without a warning. She wasn't prepared and it was painful. She bit the bottom of her lip from screaming out loud. Without asking whether she was okay, he continued to move on his own accord.

Maya kept her eyes firmly on the ceiling as he moaned and groaned on top of her. She was waiting for it to end.

As soon as his hips bucked and a groan left his mouth, it was over. He moved away from her as though she had some disease. No words were exchanged between them as Zamir turned away from her and fell asleep.

Maya closed her eyes tightly, turned away and stared out the window, hoping that she would wake up for the nightmare.

* * *

They left early the next morning. Shlia and Yash were there in the airport with Zamir's family. She hugged her mother and brother loosely, happy to get away from them. She boarded the plane with Zamir, who rarely looks at her and barely speaks to her. He did tell her that they're going to be living in California, a town called Charming.

She hopes that the town lives up to its name.

**Thank you for reading! Maya's an Indian name, just saying. **


	2. Prologue II

**disclaimer: I own nothing! Just a reminder, timeline might be messed up. And a warning for scenes of rape and abuse, in case you don't want to read anything like that. I completely understand. Also, I forgot to mention this before, I might or might not ignore season 7 (even though it's not out yet). I have a clear idea of how this story is going to end, and depending on how season 7 end, I might ignore it. This does not mean that this story will have a happy or sad ending, though. Anyways, on with the story...**

Prologue II

Charming seems like a nice town. Maya looks out the window of the taxi and sees a lot of friendly faces. The sky is blue and the grasses are green. Everyone is interacting with each other and she hopes that this town would be the beginning of something good.

* * *

She has no idea how to be a wife. There is no classes based on this and she is not going to call up her mother from India to ask the question.

She tries to make conversation with Zamir, but he's not being cooperative at all. She tries to cook, but it never turns out right. She tries to clean the house, but she doesn't have the patience for it.

Maya can see the look of displeasure on Zamir's face. He expected a good wife. Someone to clean up after him, someone to cook good food for him, someone to make him feel at ease.

Instead, he got Maya.

He doesn't say anything, preferring to be quite about the whole thing. This lasted for about two months before he actually said something.

Zamir came back from work and slammed the door one day. Maya jumps from where she's standing and turns to look at him. He has a furious scowl on his face and he keeps flexing his arms and rubbing his knuckles.

'Is everything okay?' Maya asks, trying to sound sympathetic.

'Yes,' Zamir snapped harshly. He goes and sits down at the dinner table, waiting for her to serve food.

She goes to the kitchen and takes out the chicken in the stove. It's a bit burnt on the sides, but still fit for human consumption. She serves him the food with mashed potatoes and green beans. He looks down at the plate in disgust and Maya feels saddened. She did work on it. She is trying to make an effort. He could at least do the same. And plus, the food didn't look that bad…

He stands up slowly, takes his plate, and walks to the kitchen sink. He stands there for a moment, starting at the food before smashing it down into the sink. Shards of the plate fly everywhere while the mashed potatoes hit the wall.

Maya lets out a terrified scream, before clapping her hands to her mouth. Zamir turns to her and she recoils back slightly, terrified. He looks at her with the deepest amount of repulsion she has ever witnessed on someone's face. He turns away quickly and walks out of the door, slamming the door in his wake. She hears the engine of his car speeding out the drive way and she lets out the breath she's been holding.

She slides down against the wall, trying to understand what just happened. She tries to hold back the tears that are threatening to spill out and swallows back the lump in her throat. She sits down for a moment before getting up and walking towards the window near the front door. She looks out the window and sees her neighbour staring at the house before catching her eye. She takes a step back, not sure what to do.

She's never met her neighbours. She's seen them a couple times when she looks out the window, but nothing more. They're a couple, both sandy blonde-brunettes. They make a stunning couple. Not like her and Zamir. Never like her and Zamir.

She turns away from the window and goes to the kitchen. She cleans up the mess, all the while praying that her father was still alive.

* * *

Maya stays up late at night waiting for Zamir. He comes stumbling back home at two o'clock in the morning. He's pissed drunk and doesn't seem to be happy that Maya was there waiting for him. He passes her and walks to their bedroom. She follows him, not sure how to act in this situation.

She enters the bedroom just as he pulls off his shirt.

'Here, I'll go put it for wash,' Maya said quietly, reaching out for it, but he doesn't hand it to her.

Zamir glares at her with distaste. 'Why? So you can go mess this up like how you did with everything else?'

'No,' said Maya instantly. 'I have been trying, Zamir. I'm trying to make this marriage work. You could do the same.'

Zamir huffs, rolls his eyes and turns away, undressing to his boxers. He got into bed and Maya followed suit, tried to do anything else.

Sometime during the night, he turned to face her and touched her stomach with his palm. Maya's eyes flew open at the touch. She turned her head towards him and saw something in his eyes. It wasn't love or adoration… No, it was hunger. It was animalistic lust and desire.

He brought her face close to hers and slammed his lips on hers. She stayed still as Zamir kissed her. He took his boxers off, moved on top of her, hitched her nightgown up and pushed into her.

'You're as stiff as a board, Maya,' Zamir groaned in displeasure, biting her shoulders.

Maya closed her eyes and waited until he was finished. It didn't take him that long to find his release. He pressed a sloppy kiss to her check and rolled off, soon falling asleep. Maya closed her eyes tightly, and turned towards the window, watching the moon.

* * *

'Maya! MAYA!'

Maya sighed before heading towards the bedroom, preparing herself for what was to come. Zamir was in the closet, looking for something. He turned towards her when she entered the room and stood very close to her face.

'What happened to my shirt?' he said, holding the shirt up very close to her face.

'I don't know –'

'Look at it!' he pushed it to her face before taking a few steps back, watching her.

She looked at the pink shirt, trying to figure out what was wrong with it until it dawned on her.

'It's not supposed to be pink,' she said in a hushed tone. Her blood ran cold, understanding what she did. This was one too many times.

'Took you long enough,' he snipped; he snatched his shirt back before turning back towards the closet, trying to find something else.

'I'm so –'

'Just leave,' he barked, not even giving her a second glance.

Maya returned back to the kitchen and stayed there until she heard the front door slamming.

* * *

It seems to Maya that the most consistent thing in her life at the moment is the door and the slamming sound it makes.

Zamir comes bursting into the house with the pink shirt on, shocking her. She didn't go back to the room to check whether or not the shirt was there. She didn't care. But the look on his face made her know that she was in trouble.

'Do you know that in the company, I am the most respected worker there?' he asks her, fury in his voice as he glares at Maya.

'Yes,' she replied, though she really had no idea.

'So image how it looked when I walked into work on one of the more important days with a _pink_ shirt,' he spat out that work as though it was poison.

'Zamir, I'm so –'

Before she could even finish the sentence, the wind was knocked out of her and she felt pain shooting through her left cheek. She fell to the ground, shocked beyond anything while Zamir stood over her, his hand back to his sides while still glaring at her.

'I was ridiculed today!' he snapped. 'You messed everything up!'

He gave her a swift kicked to the stomach. Maya let out a scream before he pounced on top of her, covering her mouth. Their faces were very close together. She could smell the alcohol on him.

'You're not going to yell now, are you?' he growled, moving his hands from her mouth to grip her neck very tightly.

Maya shook her head quickly, terrified. She closed her eyes, making sure that she didn't cry. There was no point. Tears wouldn't change the circumstance.

'Good girl,' he said, as though speaking to a dog.

He let go of her neck and quickly unbuckled his pants and did the same with hers.

Once the deed was done, he left the house as though fire was chasing him. Maya curled up on the ground, crying to herself silently before finally getting up and walking to the bathroom.

Her left cheek was swollen just a bit below her eye. It started to darken a bit, but it was mostly red for now. If he had aimed a bit high, she would have a black eye instead. There were hand marks on her neck. She lifts her shirt to see that it was red and a bit purple on one side.

Maya sat down on the toilet, turning away so that she wouldn't face the mirror. Her father had always called her beautiful, his only daughter and the only child he could tolerate. She never believed that, though she loved it when her father paid her a compliment. He called her strong, even when she would occasionally shed a few tears.

Arjun would be ashamed in her, Maya thinks. She's not beautiful, she is not strong, she in not Maya. She could fell herself slipping slowly.

* * *

Maya doesn't care much for God. She prayed once in a while because she hoped that someone was listening to her, though she scarcely doubts it. Shila goes to the temple every other day, often dragging Yash with her. She prayed for good health, safety for her kids, and that they would find good fortune in life. Arjun went at least once or twice a month. He prayed for good health and happiness for his kids.

She remembered the first time she prayed in a temple. It was one of the times Arjun took her to the temple. Even then she didn't care much for God. She remembered she prayed for chocolate cake. Now, she prayed for a friend.

* * *

Things between her and Zamir have not improved the slightest. She tries, he hits. She does her best; he takes her against her will. She does nothing, he finds fault.

The swell on her cheek had gone down, but there are new marks following them. None on the face, he keeps away from the face as to not draw attention to it just in case one of the neighbours sees her.

* * *

Maya stands there in shock with the door open. She looks at the lady in front of her holding up chocolate cake with a warm smile on her face. She had sandy blonde hair with bright blue eyes.

'Hi! I'm Luann Delaney. I live right next door,' she pointed her thumb over to the left. 'I just wanted to bring this over and welcome you to the neighbourhood.'

'I – I moved here about three months ago,' said Maya, snapping out of her trance.

'I know,' said Luann Delaney, looking guilty. 'My husband told me that you moved in and I was away visiting my family. I'm sorry I didn't come over before. Would you like to get some coffee?'

'Er… sure,' said Maya unintelligently. 'Come in, come in.'

Luann came in through the door and looked around with a big smile on her face. She follows Maya into the kitchen as she starts making some coffee.

'So, how are you finding Charming so far?' Luann asks, setting the cake down on the counter.

'It's fine,' said Maya. She hasn't been out of the driveway since she's got here. The furthest she's been was the mail box and that was it.

'Where are you from?' Luann asks, tilting her head a bit to the side.

'India.'

'Oh, what's it like in India?' Luann asks with excitement in her voice.

'Hot,' Maya says instantly with a smile, stirring their coffees. 'But beautiful all the same. Here.'

Luann tilted her head to the other side, watching Maya as she took the mug of coffee from her outstretched hand. Her eyes gaze down to Maya's neck to where one of the bruises was. She doesn't say anything but her smile disappears.

'So, your husband, is he the one with long hair?' Maya asks, trying to distract Luann from her neck.

Her face brightens up and Maya's chest twists with jealousy. She will never brighten up like that when someone mentions Zamir. She will never have that feeling of blissfulness whenever someone mentions him.

'Yes, his name is Otto,' said Luann, her smile widening. 'Would you and your husband like to meet him? We could have a dinner just between the four of us tomorrow.'

'No,' Maya said instantly, her eyes widening. 'I mean,' she added hastily as Luann was taken back, 'my husband's just busy all the time and he usually gets tired after work.'

Luann seemed to have bought that as she nodded her head and drank her coffee.

They talked for the rest of the morning while eating cake and drinking some more coffee. They made mindless chit-chat and promised to do it again sometime. For the first time since moving to Charming, Maya felt happy.

As Maya sees Luann out the door, she finally has a true smile on her face. She hopes that she sees Luann again and that become real friends. The thought that there was a shred of happiness in Charming for her, in the form of Luann, kept her happy the whole day. Not even Zamir's sour face dampened her day.

* * *

It's been two weeks since Luann's first visit and Maya was prepared to go over there for lunch. The two weeks were one of the happiest times for Maya. She got to know Luann and they would just have random conversations, but Maya held onto those. She was so happy that there was a person in Charming that she knew and liked. Nothing could have ruined that. But happiness doesn't always last long, at least not with Maya.

'Hello?' she said, picking up the phone as she grabbed her keys.

'Is Zamir there?' said a voice from the other line. It was feminine and slightly high-pitched compared to Maya's.

'No, he just went to work. If you have a message I can give it to him.'

'Are you his maid?' she asked with curiosity evident in her voice.

'No,' said Maya, slightly insulted. Though she did feel like one living with Zamir. 'Who is this?'

'This is Karan, his girlfriend,' she replied. 'Are you his sister?'

'Er – yeah, his sister,' Maya said, her stomach turning at what she said. 'I'll just have him call you back.'

And she hung up the phone.

Maya sat on the couch. Karan? A girlfriend? He's been going behind her back the whole time? Maya might not like him, but at least she didn't cheat on him. At least she makes an effort to be nice and civil, no matter how difficult that was.

So, he comes home, he hits her a couple times, he fucks her and then he leaves to fuck another girl. Shila could really pick them.

There was a knock on the door, and Maya, wiping her eyes, got up and opened it. Luann was standing on the opposite side looking slightly guilty.

'Hey, I know we had plans for lunch, but I just got a call from work and they really need me,' she said quickly, as though peeling the bandage off this situation.

'Oh, no, it's fine, it's work, I understand,' said Maya shakily.

'I really am sorry. I'll make it up to you,' said Luann, turning around a bit, but stopping as though she had an idea. 'Do you want to come with me?'

'Come with you? To your workplace?' said Maya with disbelief.

'Yeah, we can catch a late lunch. It shouldn't take long,' said Luann, shrugging with a smile on her face.

'O – Okay, then,' said Maya, giving her a small smile. She grabbed her keys from the couch and locked the door behind her.

'So, what do you do?'

'You'll find out,' said Luann, almost laughing.

* * *

'Please say something,' said Luann, almost pleadingly at Maya, who was staring off into space with a faraway look.

'You sucked someone's dick while another jammed his up your butt,' said Maya in a hushed voice.

There was sitting in a diner for lunch. Maya had followed Luann to her workplace, not know what to expect. Certainly not that. She sat in the corner of the room, watching everything with wide-eyes.

'And they were massive,' Maya continued, still in her hushed voice. 'They were big, like really, really big.'

Luann laughed as their sandwiches and salads arrived. They ate in silence for a while before Maya asked, 'Aren't you afraid of getting a disease?'

Luann laughed again. 'That's what you ask?'

'What wrong with that?'

'Nothing, it's just that most people don't really ask me that,' said Luann. 'They either ask me how many dicks I got shoved up my ass today or how good I am on my knees. Nobody's really been concerned about my health when it comes to my job, except for Otto.'

She paused for a minute, sighing a bit before answering the question. 'So far no diseases.'

'Pregnancies?'

'Had a scare once in the beginning,' said Luann, waving it off. 'Turned out to be a false alarm, but after that I got my tubes tied.'

'Otto's okay with that?'

'We don't really want kids. More time to ourselves, and with what I do, and what he does, it just wouldn't work with a kid,' said Luann. 'What about you? You and your husband thinking of having kids?'

Maya made a face at the suggestion. She was never a big fan of kids. They either whined, cried or pooped. Sometimes all three at once. Nothing else. Even when she was a kid, she hated kids. But to have kid with Zamir was something she would never in her life want to do. Ever.

'No a big fan of kids, are you?' said Luann, watching her face. 'Not a big fan myself. I can only stand two though, my friend's kids, Jax and Thomas. Not the most well-behaved, but better than other kids.'

'I'll probably never have kids, so it really doesn't matter,' said Maya, trying to sound casual.

* * *

'I'm going to go to Florida for two weeks,' said Zamir as they ate dinner. He was still disappointed in her cooking, but didn't say anything. He was too tired.

'Why?' asked Maya.

'Business,' he replied, not elaborating any further, so she dropped the subject.

'Someone called today,' Maya said as she took the plates to the kitchen. 'Someone named Karan.'

'What did you say to her?' Zamir hissed, grabbing her arms and twirling her around. He was practically shaking her with rage in his eyes.

'Just that you would call her back,' she said, feeling slightly dizzy.

'Don't lie to me!' he snapped. 'What did you say?'

'It's the truth!' said Maya. 'I didn't say anything else. Please let go, you're hurting me.'

Zamir scoffed. 'Do you really think I care what happens to you?'

Maya knew that he didn't care if she dropped dead the next day, but he was gripped her very tightly and the veins in her arms were starting to stand out.

Zamir shoved her against the fridge. Maya let out a small shriek as er head collided against the cold metal. As soon as she did, his fist hit her check before hitting her stomach.

'Shut up,' he hissed. 'I don't need the neighbours wondering why my _wife_,' he spat out that word, 'can't keep her mouth shut.'

Maya nodded, whimpering a bit as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, protecting it.

Zamir looked down at her in repulsion before he walked to the bedroom, leaving Maya on the ground. She picked herself up and walked over to the couch slowly, trying not to trip or fall in between. She laid there, staring up at the ceiling before Zamir came out of the bedroom with his suitcase.

'I'm leaving now, I'll be back in two weeks,' he said indignantly. 'Here's sixty bucks, don't blow it all in one shot.'

And without so much as a good-bye, he walked out the door and into his car, quickly speeding off to the airport.

* * *

Maya knocked on Luann's door frantically, as though she was possessed. It was around nine in the morning b it was an emergency. It was three days after Zamir had left for Florida and Maya needed help. She quickly put some powder on her face, covering up the bruise before heading out the door in some sweats and a lose t-shirt and a jean jacket.

'What wrong?' Luann groaned, opening the door. 'Do you have any idea what time it is?'

'Nine,' said Maya quickly. 'I need your help.'

At the sound of panic in Maya's voice, Luann's spine straightened up and she opened the door wider, inviting her inside.

'Coffee?' Luann asked.

'No, it's okay,' said Maya, waving it off. 'I need to talk to you.'

'What wrong?' Luann asked, as she ushered Maya towards the couch.

'IthinkImightbepregnant,' said Maya very quickly.

'What? Say it again, but slower this time.'

'I think I might be pregnant,' said Maya, slowly after taking a couple deep breaths.

'Well, that's good,' said Luann, smiling a bit. 'It's not good, is it?' she added, noticing the increase of panic on Maya's face.

'Not at all,' said Maya. 'I can't be pregnant, not with Zamir's kid.'

'He hits you, doesn't he?' said Luann after a moment. 'I see the scars, Maya. I just didn't want to say anything. It's wasn't my place and I didn't really know you then.'

'He does,' Maya muttered, finally saying that to someone. She felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she shared that with Luann.

'Did you take a pregnancy test?' said Luann, looking worried.

'No, I was wondering if you had –'

'I'll go check,' said Luann instantly, walking towards the bathroom quickly.

Maya was sitting on the couch as Luann went to go hunt for a test. She was fiddling with her thumbs when someone entered the living room, and it was certainly not Luann.

'Hi,' said the stranger. He was tall with broad shoulders. He wore his ash-brown hair long, just a little past his shoulders. He was wearing a black sweater and on top of that was a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off, and with the saying 'Sons of Anarchy' on the left and 'Redwood Original' on the right.

'H – Hi!' said Maya, completely taken back by the stranger. She was now staring at the gun he was holding.

'Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot,' he said, almost laughing at her expression. He settled the gun on the table and offered her his hand. 'I'm Otto, Luann's husband. You're Maya, right?'

'Ye – Yes,' said Maya, still staring at the gun, looking fearful.

'Scared of guns?' Otto asked, taking a seat on the armchair across from her.

'More terrified of the people with their fingers on the trigger,' said Maya.

'Nothing to be afraid off, sweetheart,' said Otto, smiling. 'I'm not that scary.'

'Yes, well, not that much,' said Maya, offering him a weak smile. 'But you're still bigger than me, so I would say you are. Then again, most people are bigger than me.'

'You do look very small,' said Otto, happy that she wasn't staring at the gun.

Before Maya could retort something about his height, the doorbell rang, and it rang again multiple times before Otto opened the door. In walked one of the most intimidating men Maya had ever seen in her life. He was tall and lean. Otto was a bit bulky around the edge was muscles, but this new guy was slender. He didn't really have hair, except for the little stumbles on his head that Maya could see. He had a strong jaw with black eye that stood out against his skin. His skin colour was about the same as Maya's, but a shade or two lighter. He wore a white shirt under his leather jacket, bearing the same patches. He had a knife strapped to the side of his pants and Maya was pretty sure he also had a gun.

'Ready to go?' the new guy asked, his voice deep and hoarse. It just made him even more intimidating.

'Yeah, let me just go tell Luann,' said Otto, turning to the hallway before looking back. 'Maya, this is Happy. Happy, Maya.' And he walked away.

'Er – it's nice to meet you,' Maya said, standing up and dreading ever coming to Luann's house at nine in the morning. She should have waited until noon or sometime after. She stuck out her hand, offering it to Happy.

He stared her up and down with those dark eyes. He bore no expression on his face before also reaching out and shaking her hand. He gripped it tightly, as though testing her.

Her father used to say that a handshake would break her first impression on a person. A strong handshake shows that you are strong and confident. That you are not weak and are in self-control. Though she was none of that in her life at the moment, she was not going to go down easily by a handshake.

She griped as tight as she could, though she was not physically strong, and would not wince when she thought he nearly crushed her bones. He let go of her hands and nodded once, as though approving her. He kept looking at her. Maya was unnerved at bit at that. She didn't like to be stared at, and with his dark eyes, it nearly made her go looking for Luann and Otto, though she had a faint idea what they were doing.

'Okay, let's go, brother,' said Otto, entering the living room again with Luann beside him. He grabbed the gun from the table before giving Luann a kiss. 'I'll see you later, baby. Nice meeting you, Maya,' he added, looking over at her.

He walked out the door while Happy gave her a head nod, saying good-bye, and followed Otto out the door.

'He doesn't say much, does he?' Maya asked as the door closed.

'Happy? Na, he's more of an action type of guy,' said Luann, before reaching into her robes. 'I have the test here. Do you want to do this here or –?'

'Can I? I just want to get this over with,' said Maya.

'Yeah, the washroom's down there,' said Luann.

After four minutes of peeing on a stick and reading the instructions and labels intently, Maya finally looked at the pregnancy stick. She could feel her heart sink before she whispered, 'Pregnant.'

**Can you tell me if I need to change the rating. It feels as though I might need to. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Prologue III

**disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Prologue III

'Are you sure you want to do this?' Luann asked Maya.

'Yes,' said Maya, nodding her head definitely, her eyes staring off into space.

It has been two days since Maya found out that she was pregnant. In two days, she made her decision about what to do with the baby. She hates the decision, but it has to be done. Once she told Luann, she said that she knew a place that would do it off the books. No records of it ever showing up.

'You don't have to do this,' said Luann, her face evident with pity. 'You can always give it up for adoption. You don't have to have an abortion.'

'Zamir will want to keep the kid,' said Maya, 'I can't let that happen.'

'Maybe he won't be – '

'No, you don't get it,' said Maya, nearly in tears. 'He's not going to change just because I'm pregnant. He's not like that. It's just going to get worse. What if it's a girl? He'll probably hit her around too. Or, god forbid, it's a boy. The kid will probably turn out like Zamir, hitting girls and fucking every other person that has legs.'

Maya was shaking now with tears streaming down her face.

'I can't have a kid. I just can't. It's not the right time.'

'Laura Spencer,' called the nurse, looking around for her.

'That's you,' Luann whispered.

'What?' said Maya, looking at the nurse.

'That's your fake name,' said Luann. 'It's off the records, but I put you under a fake name just in case. It's a character from a soap opera. Just go.'

Maya, still a little confused, got up and walked to the nurse, who led her to a bright white room and told her that the doctor would be with her shortly.

She gently placed her hand on her stomach, and stroked it slightly.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered just as the door opened and the doctor walked in.

* * *

'How do you feel?' Luann asked as she drove them back home.

'Like the world's biggest bitch,' said Maya.

'You know, you've been developing a potty mouth lately,' said Luann. 'And you're not the world's biggest bitch. I already know one of those.'

Luann looked over at Maya, whose head was resting on the window shield and staring out the window as though she was about to die.

'Tell you what,' said Luann, her voice turning chipper, 'there's a party going on tomorrow night at my friend's workplace. Me and Otto are going. Why don't you come? Get your mind of this whole… situation. What do you say?'

'Is there going to alcohol?' Maya asked.

'Yes, but you don't –'

'I'm thinking of taking it up. Find out what's so great about it,' said Maya. 'I'll come with you. Do I have to dress up?'

'Just come in whatever you're comfortable in.'

* * *

'Really? Sweatpants?'

'You said in whatever I was comfortable in. I'm comfortable in sweatpants,' Maya defended herself. She was wearing black sweatpants, a red shirt and a jean jacket. She wore powder to cover up the bruise on her neck, but, thankfully, that was fading away, slowly though.

Luann opened her mouth, but closed it and shook her head. 'Come on, let's go.'

They walked to the car and drove down the street.

'Couple things you need to know,' Luann started. 'One, it's a SAMCRO party.'

'Who's SAMCRO?'

'Not who, it's what. Stands for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original. Not matter what people say or ask, you are not a croweater.'

'What?'

'It's… it's a girl who sleeps around with some of the members,' said Luann, waving her hands in elaboration. 'You're not one of them, that's all that matters, no matter what Lenny says.'

'Um… okay.'

'And if you're lost or confused, either find me or Otto; he's going to meet us there. Stay away from some of the bigger guys, but prospects are okay to talk to, if you're really bored, unless they look creep, then just stay away from them. I'll introduce you to Gemma, but she can be a bit cold in the beginning and takes time to warm up to. Also, don't disrespect anyone or talk back to them, but don't go sleeping with them either, you're not a –'

'Croweater, got it,' said Maya. 'Stop worrying. You're more nervous than me.'

'Just a bit excited, that's all,' said Luann, practically jumping in her seat. 'And here we are!'

They entered a mechanic shop called Teller-Morrow. It seemed as though the party had already started as Luann parked her car next to a black one. They got out and Maya became the nervous one.

'There you are, you're late,' said a lady coming towards them. She was about the same height as Maya. She had black hair with some highlights in them. She was wearing jeans with a black shirt on.

'I'm here, aren't I?' said Luann. 'Gemma, this is Maya. Maya, this is Gemma.'

Gemma looked Maya up and down, inspecting her before putting her hands on her hips.

'You a croweater?'

'No,' said Maya, feeling slightly insulted.

'Good,' said Gemma. 'Got enough of those already. Come on in, let's get you a drink.'

Maya was a little taken back at the way Gemma was treating her. Luann said that she would be cold to her, but it was the opposite. Maya looked around; Otto was standing next to someone with their hair pulled back in a ponytail. As soon as Luann spotted him, she went to go join them. There were a lot of people there, mostly men. They were either talking to each other with music blasting out of nowhere. The women that were there, besides Luann and Gemma, were dressed in minimum clothes. Maya felt so out of place in her sweatpants.

They entered a building that had a bar inside. Gemma went behind the bar and said, 'So, what's your poison?'

'Anything you recommend,' said Maya, sitting next to a man that smelled heavily of alcohol and cigars.

'That means she's never drank anything in her life,' said the man. He was older looking with his hair graying a bit at the roots. He was bulky and was wearing a jean jacket and not leather like the others.

'Yes I have!' said Maya, breaking one of Luann's rules.

'Really?' said the man, turning around to face her. 'Name one.'

'Irish coffee and rum,' said Maya.

He gave her a long stare before chuckling. 'Get her a beer,' he said. 'Name's Piney,' he added, sticking his hand out.

'Maya,' she shook his hand.

'You a croweater?'

'No,' said Maya, scrunching her face a bit. 'Why do people keep asking me that?'

'Well, you're new, and we're getting mixed signals with your clothes, here,' said Gemma, handing her a bottle beer.

'There is nothing wrong with sweatpants,' said Maya, accepting the beer. She was holding onto it, not drinking until Gemma and Piney urged her into it. She choked a bit into it, but kept drinking until the bottle was finished.

'Urgh – that was actually good,' said Maya, putting the bottle down.

'Here, take a shot,' said Piney, putting four little cups in front of her.

'I don't think she's ready –'

'I'm s'fine,' said Maya, slurring on her words a bit.

'You're a light drunk,' said Piney, smiling. 'Have a shot.'

'How do you take a shot?'

After Piney and Gemma demonstrated, Maya copied their movements. She got a little bit on herself, but not too much. After her fifth shot, she asked her question.

'Why are you speening so nice to me?' Maya said, still slurring on her words.

'I think she means being,' said Piney, drinking some beer.

'Yup,' said Maya, pointing at Piney then Gemma. 'Why?'

Gemma gave her a long hard look. 'Luann told me about you.'

'What?' said Maya, drawing the word out.

'Yeah, don't worry, nobody else knows.'

She gave Maya another beer and said, 'If you ever need anything, just ask.'

'Thanks,' said Maya, not slurring anymore but smacking her lips together.

Gemma nodded before venturing out into the party, leaving Maya alone with Piney.

'Anything you want to talk about?' he said.

'Crappy husband, crappy family, crappy life,' she said, raising her glass a bit. 'Couldn't get any better.'

Piney chortled before clinking his bottle to hers. 'Cheers.'

They sat there in momentarily silence as the party continued on without them. There were a whole lot of people making out and doing things to each other that should have been done in the bedroom.

'Hey, brother,' came a voice beside Piney, clapping him on the shoulder before making him way behind the counter. He had long brown hair that stopped to his shoulder. He had the leather vest on with the words President read on the left side. He gave Maya a look before asking Piney, 'Croweater?'

'I am not a croweater!' said Maya, burping a little. 'Sorry,' she said, covering her mouth.

'This is Maya. Maya, John Teller,' said Piney, motioning between them.

'Who brought you here?'

'Luann.'

'Yes?'

'Well, speak of the devil,' said John Teller, looking behind Maya. 'I was just asking Maya who brought her.'

'Hey, how you doin'?' Luann asked Maya, standing next to her.

'You,' said Maya, turning to Luann and poking her finger at her chest, knocking on a boob, 'how many people have you told about my marriage?'

'What?' said Luann, moving Maya's finger away.

'Gemma knows about Zamir,' said Maya. 'How many other people know?'

'Just her and Otto,' said Luann. 'But he knew before me, so…'

'How does he know?'

'Because he,' said the person beside Luann, who turned out to be Otto, 'figured it out when he saw you get the mail. I saw your neck that day.'

'Oh,' said Maya. 'Well, this is all very depressing. Can I have some more beer?' she asked John Teller, who was already grabbing one for her.

'I'm sorry,' said Luann, rubbing Maya's back a bit.

'S'fine,' said Maya, waving it off. 'So, you're President?' she asked John Teller, who nodded, 'Then what are the rest of you?'

'Piney's VP and Otto is a full patched in member,' said John Teller. 'And Luann's an old lady.'

'But you're not old,' Maya mumbled, looking over at Luann.

'An old lady is a wife or a steady girlfriend of the club,' said someone new standing beside John. 'Hi, Lenny Janowitz,' he said, taking Maya's hand, kissing the back of it and flashing a big smile.

He was the one Otto was speaking to earlier.

'I'm not a croweater,' said Maya, deadpanned.

'Oh,' said Lenny, his smile disappearing before shrugging. 'Anyway, Happy and Tom are about to wrestle,' he said to John. 'We need more beer outside.'

John and Lenny grabbed a couple bottles of beer and they two of them, Piney, and Otto made their way outside for the match. Maya grabbed a bottle and grabbed onto Luann for support and the two of them followed the rest outside.

Maya doesn't know how she missed seeing a wrestling ring. It was right there near the door. In the ring was a man that looked about the same age as Piney with long light brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing a black t-shirt that showed off his muscles. Also in the ring was Happy, the man she met a couple days ago. He wasn't wearing a shirt and she could see his muscles. The other man was bulky. His muscles stood out, but Happy's didn't stand out like that. He was lean and he was covered in tattoos. There was no visible skin on him that didn't have any tattoos that Maya could see.

Everyone was watching the match and cheering on for both the men, but Maya kept her eyes on Happy, watching him while drinking beer.

'You're staring,' someone whispered in her ear.

Gemma was looking at her with a smirk on her face.

'Where did you come from?' Maya asked.

'I've been standing here for five minutes,' said Gemma, still smirking. 'You were too busy drooling over Happy to notice.'

'I was not drooling,' said Maya. 'I'm just watching the match.'

'Sure you are, honey,' said Gemma, patting her shoulder before walking away.

Maya scowled at her wake, but didn't say anything. The match finished when Happy and the man hugged it out over something in the middle of the ring.

'Matches don't end when people hug,' Maya said to Luann.

'This isn't a normal match,' said Luann, shrugging.

Everyone was now going inside the building she was just in. The only people left outside was Happy, who was cleaning up his knuckles, Maya and some people that were talking near their motorcycles, not paying attention to either Maya or Happy. Figuring she was sober enough, she walked closer to Happy.

'Congratulations on your match,' she told him.

Happy turned towards her. He looked at her for a moment before saying, 'I didn't win.'

'Well, I really didn't know who won,' said Maya, shrugging. 'Just figured I'd congratulate you anyways.'

Happy kept staring at her with those dark eyes before saying, 'How did you get here?'

'Luann brought me,' said Maya. 'I'm not a croweater.'

'I never said you were,' said Happy, his attention now back to his hands.

'People have been asking me that,' said Maya, sighing. 'How long do these parties go on for?'

'Hours,' said Happy. 'Sometimes until morning.'

'Really?' said Maya. 'What're celebrating?'

'You know Tom?' he asked, giving her a side glance. 'The guy I was fighting? He just got out of prison. We're celebrating his homecoming.'

'Is that why you let him win?'

Happy's jaw twitched before saying, 'I didn't let him win.'

'Okay, then,' said Maya, taking a swing of beer before setting the bottle down on the ground.

'I didn't,' Happy growled, looking very menacing as he took a couple steps forward to Maya. She backed away until she reached a solid wall.

'Are you going to hit me?' she asked in a hushed tone.

'What?' said Happy, taking a couple steps away from her. 'Why the fuck would I do that?'

'Just asking,' said Maya.

They stood there in silence as Happy stared at her and Maya was looking at every besides him. There were some people coming outside the building, getting on their bikes and leaving the parking lot. None of those people paid any attention to them.

'How drunk are you?' Happy asked.

'I think I'm sobering up, actually,' said Maya. 'I should go find Luann and go home.'

Before Happy could open his mouth, Maya walked as quickly as she could into the building. The party was still going on, but the crowd seemed to have to have thinned out. She could spot Piney at the bar while Lenny was standing near the pool table with someone attached to him, trying to catch his attention. John and Gemma were talking to someone she didn't know, but had the Sons of Anarchy leather vest on. But she didn't see Luann or Otto.

'Have you see Luann or Otto?' she asked Piney.

'Yeah, they went to the back,' he said. 'Don't go there.'

'Why not?'

'Do I have to spell it out for yeah?'

'Oh,' said Maya, taking a seat next to Piney.

'Going somewhere?' Piney asked, passing over a beer bottle to her.

'I was feeling tired. Just wanted to go home,' said Maya.

'I could take you home,' said Happy. He was standing behind Maya, listening to everything she said.

'I wouldn't –'

'You won't,' said Happy cutting her off. 'Come on, I'll drop you off. You live near Otto, right?'

'Er – yeah.'

'Then let's go.'

Maya looked at Piney, who just shrugged his shoulder, before following Happy out the building. On the way out, she caught Gemma's eye, who just winked and smirked at her. Maya had the urge to flip her off, but just waved at her.

They got to his bike and he handed her a helmet. She put it on and didn't know what to do now. He looked at her expectantly, but she shook her head.

'What?' he said, sounding irritated.

'I've never been on a bike before,' she said.

Happy looked even more irritated. He sighed before saying, 'Swing your legs over and get on. Then just hold on to me. It's that easy.'

Maya didn't like his condescending tone, but didn't say anything about it. She got on the bike and held onto Happy very tightly. She wrapped her arms around his chest, partially scared at the new experience. She could feel his chest tighten at her touch, but he didn't say anything as he started his bike and left the parking lot.

Maya relaxed as they drove down the street. Riding on a bike was very liberating. She liked the wind in her hair and the openness of the ride. Her tight on Happy loosened and she laid her head against his back, closing her eyes.

'We're here,' said Happy.

Maya opened her eyes slowly and let go of him. She got off and walked to the door, not noticing Happy following her until she stumbled on the newspaper on the ground.

'Thanks,' said Maya. 'You don't have to follow me, you know. I'll be fine.'

He ignored her and saw her to the door. She fumbled with the key a bit but got the door open.

'Well, thanks for the ride,' said Maya, turning to face Happy. 'I'll see you later, then.'

Happy nodded, but didn't move until Maya entered the house and closed the door. She peeked over the curtain at her window and saw Happy get on his bike and drive away, probably heading back to the party.

She walked to the kitchen, getting out some bread and looking over at the calendar. Eight more days until Zamir returned. Eight more days of freedom.

* * *

Maya decided that she hated whoever was pounding on the door at nine in the morning. She opened the door to a smiling Luann who was carrying a bag in one hand and three cups in the other.

'Coffee and bagel,' said Luann, speaking slightly louder than usual. 'Gemma's also coming over. She's bringing her kids.'

'Why are you speaking so loudly?' said Maya, her head pounding a bit.

'Call it payback for waking _me _up at nine,' said Luann, walking inside and into the kitchen.

Within thirty minutes, Gemma came knocking on her door with her kids in tow. Jackson, who was six, looked like his father, John, including the hair. According to Gemma, John had blond hair before dying it brown. He also had John's blue eyes, but had Gemma's smirk. He was already a looker at six. The newborn was Thomas and he looked the same as Jax, but there was some of Gemma in him.

'So, did you get home alright?' Gemma asked as the three of them were in the kitchen while Jackson and Thomas were in the living room watching TV. Thomas was in one of those baby seats while Jackson kept flipping through the channels, bored.

'Yes,' said Maya, wondering where she was going with this.

'Happy took care of you?'

'He was very polite,' said Maya. He wasn't very polite, but he wasn't impolite either.

'Was he now,' said Luann, her eyebrow quipped as she drank her coffee, hiding a smile.

'What did you expect was going to happen between me and Happy?' said Maya, putting down her cup.

'Nothing,' said Gemma. 'You're a married woman and you're going to do nothing with Happy.'

'But not happily married, though,' said Luann, adding her two cents in.

'Right, not happily married,' said Gemma, pretending to forget. 'So, you're a non-happily married woman who gets beaten up every day by her husband, who also cheats on you, and you aborted his baby yesterday.'

'What's your point?' Maya said though her clenched jaw.

'Get out of your marriage,' said Gemma simply.

'It's not that simple,' said Maya.

'It's not that hard,' said Gemma.

'You don't understand,' said Maya.

'Try us,' said Gemma.

'I don't think this –' Luann started, but she was ignored as Maya cut her off.

'I can't just walk away from this marriage. It's not that easy. My family has been waiting for me to get married to _him_ and I can't just disappoint them. And if I do walk away from it, where am I going to go? Luann's house? Your house? Not going to happen. I'm not going to mooch of people for the rest of my life.'

Gemma took a long look at her. 'So you're with your abusive husband because of your family, really? That's you're excuse for staying with him? That's bullshit and you know it. You can walk away whenever you want, you're just too scared to –'

'And what if I am?' said Maya, cutting her off. 'What if I walk out that door and he comes and finds me? What happens then? He terrorizes me for the rest of my life? Or, better yet, I go back home and my mother finds me another man to marry.'

'Or he could just leave you alone,' said Luann, shrugging.

'Not going to happen in a million years,' said Maya. 'He won't even let me leave the house except to put the trash out or get the mail. He doesn't even know that we have lunch. According to him, all I do is sit here and mess his life up.'

Maya hated the look of pity on Luann's face and that look of judgement on Gemma's. It made her blood boil. It wasn't fair. They had Otto and John, she had Zamir. They just don't understand.

'Well, I have no pity for you,' said Gemma, putting her mug down.

'I don't need it,' snapped Maya.

'But I will be there in case you need anything,' Gemma said, choosing to ignore Maya's tone. 'If you need anything, I'll be there.'

'Thanks,' said Maya.

'Ma, we have to go,' said Jackson, walking into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets.

'What time is it?' said Gemma, looking around for the clock.

'Ten past ten,' said Luann, looking at her wrist.

'Right, Thomas has an appointment at eleven,' said Gemma, getting up. 'Come on, baby, I take you over to Piney's.'

'You could leave him here,' said Luann.

'Nah, he and Opie are apparently going Go Carting or something, Piney's taking them,' said Gemma, picking Thomas up. 'I'll see you guys tonight? Couple of Nomads are coming in for some club business; don't know how long they're staying though.'

'We'll be there,' said Luann.

'Wait, two parties back-to-back?' said Maya.

'Not unheard of,' sad Gemma, shrugging. 'Some of them can do on for days, and they're Nomads, you know? Gotta treat them nice. I'll see you two tonight.'

She kissed Luann on the cheek before moving to Maya and saying, 'Anything you need, just call me.'

Maya nodded and Gemma kissed her cheek before ushering Jackson out the door. Maya closed the door once she saw them leave the driveway.

'You think I should leave Zamir too?' she asked Luann.

'I do,' said Luann, nodding. 'You deserve someone better.'

* * *

'So, what's Nomad?' Maya asked as they were a few streets away from the garage.

'It's someone who doesn't belong to a specific club,' said Luann. 'They go anywhere to take care of business.'

'So, what is the club business?'

'Guns,' said Luann simply as though it wasn't a big deal.

That should have made Maya scared, but none of them had hurt her in anyway or pulled a gun on her. With everything that's happened to her, it just doesn't bother her in anyway. Not like the thought of Zamir being back in seven days.

'Here we are,' said Luann, entering the parking lot.

As soon as they got out of the car, Otto was already there and he gave Luann a big kiss. Maya wanted to puke.

'Good to see you again, Maya,' Otto said, finally noticing her.

'Hi, Otto,' said Maya. 'Piney in there?' she nodded in the direction of the building.

'Yeah, he's in the clubhouse,' said Otto, turning his attention back to Luann.

Maya walked towards the clubhouse, dodging as many people as she could before spotting Piney sitting at the bar with a glass of beer in front of him.

'Mind if I join you?' said Maya, gesturing to the seat next to him.

'Free country,' said Piney. 'Beer?'

'No,' said Maya. 'Something new.'

'Tequila? The good kind?'

'What the bad kind?'

'The stuff I gave you yesterday.'

'Sure, some of the good kind sounds good,' said Maya, smiling a bit.

Maya learned a few things in her life. She learned how to read and how to do math from her father. She learned how to pick good horses and play poker from her grandfather, who was a notorious gambler towards his last ten years on earth. She learned how to draw from her grandmother. She learned how to be sneaky from her mother by countless hours of avoiding her. It was an essential gift. But she never learned how to drink, and Piney was giving her the first lesson.

'Here, have some of this,' said Piney, filling up her bottle with something else. 'Irish Whiskey. Strong stuff.'

Maya took a sip and coughed a bit. Piney hit her on the back a couple times before she stopped coughing.

'I think I choked on it,' said Maya, laughing a bit.

'You're the first person I met that actually choked on liquid,' said Piney before getting up. 'I'll be back, gotta take a leak. When I come back, you're going to try some scotch, and you're not going to choke on it. Got it?'

'Yes, sir,' said Maya, fake saluting.

As soon as Piney left, someone took his seat. She's never seen him before and would probably never want to see him again. He was a tiny little thing with more tattoos on his face than his arms. He had this creepy smile on his face that reminded Maya of her brother, Yash. It made her shiver. He's leather vest was different from the others. He just had the words Prospect on the left side.

'You wanna go out back? Name's Mark,' he said.

'Go out back? What the hell do you want to do there?' said Maya, looking a bit disgusted at Mark.

'You know, you, me…' Then he made a couple hand signals that pretty much spelled the whole thing out for her. He wanted to fuck her in the ass.

'She's not here for that, prospect,' said a hoarse voice coming from behind Mark, who looked very afraid now. 'Now get out of here. Go restock the beer. Now.'

'Yes, sir, Happy, sir,' and Mark pretty much ran off without looking back. Happy looked disgusted as the prospect left and took his seat.

'Thanks, but I had it under control,' said Maya, getting up. 'Can you tell Piney I'm outside?'

'Why don't you tell him yourself?' he said.

'Because I want to go outside,' said Maya, sounding slightly irritated. She grabbed a bottle of beer and walked outside as quickly as she could without bumping into too many people. She did however bump into Lenny Janowitz outside when she was trying to find a secluded place to drink by herself. He was standing outside, smoking, while watching everything that was happening.

'Sorry,' she mumbled.

'Maya, right?' he said, grabbing her attention. 'The non-croweater?'

'That's me,' she said in a non-interested voice.

'You want some?' he asked, holding out his hand in front of her.

'No thank,' she said. 'I'm not a smoker.'

'Reason behind it?'

'Father and grandfather died from it. Rather not follow them into the graves just yet,' she said, taking a swing of beer. 'What are you doing out here all by yourself?'

'Nomads get first pick of croweaters,' he said, sounding sad. 'We get whatever's left behind.'

'Why?'

'Well, they're our guests. You gotta treat your guests right, that's just the way it is,' said Lenny, shrugging as though it made sense to every other person on Earth.

'What's a prospect?'

'Someone who wants to be in the club, but's gotta go through a whole lot of shit before that happens. Whatever we want him to do, or whatever we just don't want to do, they have to do it. No arguments, no back talk, they have to abide by our words.'

'When do they become members?'

'They become patched in when the club takes a unanimous vote. Only then they become one of us. And if they don't make it in, then well, we figure it out later.'

'Is Mark going to get in?'

'Who?' he looked genuinely confused at the name.

'Mark, you know, that guy with the messed up face full of tattoos.'

'Oh, him, we just call him Shit-Face, not very original, but fits the situation. I don't know, his personality is about the same as his fucked up face. I don't want him in, but we gotta have a club vote.'

Lenny dropped his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it. He took out another one and lit it up.

'So, what's your role in the club? John's President, Piney's VP, what are you?'

'I'm Sergeant-at-Arms,' he pointed over at the patch on his vest. 'You really don't know anything about us, do you?'

'Not much, no,' said Maya, shaking her head. 'I'm pretty lost.'

'Well, I would stand here and give you a lesson, but there's a reason why they call me 'The Pimp'?' he said, putting out his cigarette when he saw something come out of the clubhouse.

'What? You're actually called 'The Pimp'?' said Maya in disbelief.

'Yeah, being in the Sons means that you're a pussy magnet, and I'm about to get some now,' said Lenny, walking towards one of the girls that came out of the clubhouse. She was smiling flirtatiously as she saw Lenny making his way over to her. He talked to her for a few minutes before the two of them headed back inside the clubhouse.

Maya, a bit in shock over what happened, made her way back inside to the clubhouse to grab another beer. She saw Mark standing behind the counter and he passed her one without looking at her. He then retreated outside very quickly.

'Never liked him,' Piney said, watching Mark leave. 'Got a lot of shit on his face. Can't even see it properly.'

'Is Lenny really called 'The Pimp'?' she asked.

'He's good at what he does,' said Piney, shrugging. 'He's the reason why there's so many croweaters here.'

'Where's Gemma or Luann?'

'Luann's with Otto, probably in the back. Gemma's at home with the kids. Thomas was sick,' said Piney. 'That's the reason why there's more croweaters than usual.'

'You going to go get some?'

'Go get some? Who says it like that?' said Piney, looking over at her with an odd look on his face. 'Can you swear?'

'Sometimes,' said Maya in a small voice.

'Well, get used to it because we do it all the time,' said Piney. 'And yes, I will.'

He finished the remained of his drink and got up. He grabbed one of the croweaters that were dancing and the two of them walked to the back of the clubhouse. Feeling a bit weird that she was very close to the place where Piney and Lenny were having sex, she walked out of the clubhouse.

There were less people outside as some of them got on their bikes and rode out of the parking lot. Maya saw some of them passed out on the benches outside with girls on them. She was thinking of hitching her way back home before someone tapped her on her shoulder.

'Need a ride home?' said Happy.

'No, it's okay, I can walk,' said Maya.

'Come on,' said Happy, handing her a helmet. 'It's the middle of the night; you're not walking home all by yourself.'

Maya took the helmet and contemplated something. 'Can we get some ice cream?'

'What?' said Happy, a mixture of irritation and shock in his voice.

'Can we get some ice cream on the way? Please,' said Maya, giving him a small smile.

He looked as though he really wanted to say no. Really, really wanted to say no. But in the end, he caved and nodded his head, not saying anything at all.

Maya had a very small triumphant smile on her face but didn't say anything as she got on Happy's bike and drove out of the parking lot in search of ice cream. It took them about twenty minutes before they found one open this late at night. She got chocolate and strawberry with sprinkles while he just got plain vanilla.

'That's it? That's all you want?' said Maya as Happy paid for the ice cream. She offered, but he cut her off and paid instead.

'Nothing wrong with vanilla,' said Happy. They sat down outside on a bench. Maya was staring up at the stars while Happy was eating his ice cream.

'Come on, finish your ice cream,' said Happy nudging her a bit. 'Gotta get you home.'

'I don't want to go home,' Maya mumbled, picking away at her melting ice cream.

'Why?' sighed Happy.

'Because it's empty,' said Maya. 'I'm all alone and the silence is killing me. I was so used to my mother's yelling voice and my brother whiny one. I was used to my father's stories filling the house. Now, nothing.'

'Can't be that bad,' said Happy, finishing up his ice cream.

Maya just shrugged and returned to her ice cream.

'Happy, why are you called 'Happy'?'

'Maybe I was born with that name. Did you think about that?'

'Yes, but were you?'

'Just finish your ice cream,' said Happy.

'You know, when I saw Mark again, he wouldn't look at me,' continued Maya, not really eating her ice cream. 'Did you have something to do with that?'

'He was creeping you out,' said Happy, shrugging. 'And he's a dickhead.'

'Got a whole lot of things on his face,' said Maya.

'I don't trust him,' said Happy. 'Something about him that…'

'Rubs you off the wrong way,' Maya offered.

'Yeah…'

'So you did do something to him.'

'I just told him to stay away from you, that's all.'

Maya raised her eyebrows at this, but didn't say anything. She drank up the melted ice cream and jumped up.

'You know, I've been in Charming for about four months and haven't seen much of it,' said Maya, smiling suggestively at him.

'So?' said Happy.

'This is that part where you offer to show me around Charming,' said Maya.

'No, this is the part where I take you home,' said Happy, standing up and handing her the helmet.

'Please,' said Maya. 'I don't really get out much, except for lunches with Luann or one of those SAMCRO parties. You'll be doing me a favor.'

'No,' said Happy in conclusive voice. 'I'm taking you home, that's final. Get on.'

Maya's face fell a bit, but she got on the bike nonetheless.

It would have taken Happy about ten or fifteen minutes to get back to her house, but it took about an hour and a half. He took the long way and showed her some parts of Charming. She saw the park, the schools, some of the shops that were owned by the local citizens, and the police station. When they reached her house, she had a smug smile on her face.

'Not one word,' he told her.

'I'm not saying anything,' said Maya, smiling while handing the helmet back to him. 'Thank you for the ice cream and the drive.'

Happy said nothing but nodded. Maya walked to her door and Happy didn't follow her this time. As soon as she unlocked the door, she turned around and waved to him. She closed the door and heard the roar of his engine as he sped out of the drive way. Maya lay down on the couch, exhausted and happy with her day.

**Thank you for reading!**


	4. Prologue IV

**disclaimer: I own nothing! To be honest, there was only supposed to be three back stories and then the main story on wards. Well, nothing went as planned. So, after this, at least two more Prologue chapters before the real story begins. Also, HUGE WARNING! I'm changing the rating of this story because of it. **

Prologue IV

The next couple days went by quickly for Maya. She spent most of her time with Luann and even went to work with her again, this time she just stayed outside the studio. She also spent some time with Gemma and even looked after Thomas, momentarily pushing aside her dislike for kids. His usual babysitter was away on some family emergency and Gemma needed someone to watch Thomas for her while she and John were at work. Jackson was over at Piney's with Opie, his kid.

'The wolf then came to the house of bricks,' said Maya, reading The Three Little Pigs to Thomas. 'Let me in, let me in cried the wolf. Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in. Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin said the pigs. Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house. But the wolf was a sly wolf and –'

The doorbell rang and Maya got up to open the door, thinking it was Gemma or Luann. She was shocked when she saw John Teller on the other side with Jackson beside him.

'Hi,' said Maya. 'What are you doing here?'

John smiled before saying, 'Thomas, remember? You're keeping one of my kids hostage.'

'Hardly,' said Maya, rolling her eyes a bit with a smile. 'Thomas just loves me.'

'Does he now?' quipped John, entering the house while Jackson sat on the couch.

'He does, I even got him to say my name,' said Maya, scooping Thomas off the floor and grabbing the bag Gemma gave her with all the essentials.

'He's three months old,' said John. 'And plus, if he's going to be saying anyone's name, it's going to be his old man's.'

'You're all playing for seconds,' said Jackson, turning on the television. 'He's going to be saying my name first.'

'And what are doing?' said John. 'We got to go.'

'We just got here!' said Jackson.

'We are going, Jackson,' said John.

'It's okay if he stays for a while,' said Maya. 'He can sit here and watch some TV if he wants.'

'No, no, we have to go,' said John, taking the remote from Jackson and turning the TV off. 'Gemma's getting off work right now and wants to have some family bonding day or some shit like that. I promised her I wouldn't be late this time.'

'Fine,' Jackson mumbled, getting up and walking towards the door with his shoulders slumped.

'Is he okay?' Maya asked as Jackson got into the truck.

'Yeah, he's just… tired or something,' said John, running his hand over his face. 'Gemma'll figure it out. Thanks for watching Thomas.'

'No problem,' said Maya. 'He's probably the most well behaved kid I know. If you ever need me again, just call.'

'Thanks,' said John, stepping out of the house. 'You doing anything on Tuesday?'

It was Sunday and she was pretty sure she had no plans for that day.

'No, why?'

'Well, Gemma wants to have a family dinner. You're invited if you want to come along.'

'You're considering me family?' said Maya, incredulity.

'Well, you're not a stranger,' said John, shrugging. 'Piney and Luann like you. Don't answer me yet. Think about it. I'll see you later.'

'Bye,' said Maya.

She probably wasn't going to go. She liked them, but she wasn't going to intrude on a family dinner like that. But the thought of a family dinner sounded wonderful. Belonging to a group of people that cared about you and called you family sounded so sweet that it made Maya's heart clench a bit.

As John drove the truck out the driveway, she waved to Jackson, whose head was popped out the truck, he waved back. She smiled sadly.

* * *

Maya hated Monday because it was the day she set aside to do all the cleaning in the house. Ever since Zamir was gone, she hasn't really done much to keep the house in tip top shape, though it was rarely in that condition to begin with. She was either with Luann, or with Gemma or doing something that didn't require her to be in the house.

Just as she was about to tackle the bathroom, which was saved for last, the doorbell rang. Grateful, Maya quickly took off all her armour and opened the door to see Gemma with Thomas in her arms and a sulking Jackson at her side.

'Hi,' said Maya, standing aside to that they could come in.

'You doing some housework?' Gemma asked, peering at her. 'You smell bad.'

'Thanks,' said Maya sarcastically. 'Yeah, I was about to go clean the washroom, but then you came and yeah…'

'Okay, so you're not busy,' said Gemma, shrugging. 'Jackson, sit down and don't make a mess. And stop sulking, it's unbecoming of you. Maya, take me to your bedroom.'

'What?' said Maya, confused as Jackson sat down on the couch with a scowl on his face. 'What's going on?'

'Jackson's mad because I wouldn't let him go over to Piney's today,' said Gemma, watching Jackson. 'Opie's a bit sick and I don't want him to get sick either, but of course, Jackson's not listening.'

'It's just a little cough,' said Jackson, still scowling. 'He's going to get better. And it's Jax.'

'Yeah, whatever,' said Gemma, rolling her eyes. 'Take me to your bedroom.'

'That was the part I was more confused about,' said Maya.

'You're coming over to our house tomorrow for dinner,' said Gemma.

'I'm not –'

'It doesn't matter,' said Gemma, holding up her free hand and cutting her off. 'I don't care how you see yourself, but to me, Luann and Piney you are. And maybe even Happy, but I'm not going to stand here and pretend like I know what he's thinking. So, you're coming over to dinner and that's the end of that.'

Even though she wanted to be mad at Gemma, she couldn't. She was a part of a family, even of the others didn't want her, some did. Trying not to look so happy so that it would give Gemma satisfaction, she merely nodded.

'Okay, where's your bedroom?' Gemma repeated.

'Why?'

'I want to make sure you actually have clothes that aren't sweatpants.'

'Fine,' Maya grumbled.

She led Gemma and Thomas to her bedroom where Gemma proceeded to go through her closet, throwing everything on the floor, claiming that it wasn't good enough or that it was out of style. Maya was sitting on the bed, holding Thomas as this all happened.

'Okay, this should do,' said Gemma, sighing at the poor selection she had to go through. 'Wear these jeans and this top. You can your jean jacket too, if you want.'

'Thanks for your permission,' Maya muttered.

Well, the choice wasn't too bad. Dark blue jeans with a long sleeved white top. Maya _would _have gone in her sweatpants though. She was a bit ashamed of that thought.

'So, I'll pick you up tomorrow at five,' said Gemma, gathering Thomas back in her arms. 'You and Luann are going to help me prepare for dinner while the guys show up late, as usual.'

Maya nodded as the three of them left the room to see Jackson sitting on the couch watching TV.

As soon as they left, Maya tried on the clothes, completely forgetting about cleaning the house. Completely forgetting about the fact that Zamir was coming home in five days. Forgetting everything because she was wanted by people that cared about her.

* * *

'So, who else is going to be here, besides the guys?' Maya asked Luann as she cut up some vegetables to go with the steak.

'The guys, us, Jackson, Thomas and Opie,' said Luann, turning the steak over on the grill.

That didn't sound too bad. She would just stick to the people she knew and wouldn't get in anybody's way.

Within an hour and a half, the house was already full of people and Maya felt lost. She spent most of her time in the kitchen, trying not to bother anyone, but that didn't stop them from looking at her. When Piney entered the house, he immediately pulled her into a bear hug and introduced her to his son, Opie, even though his name was Harry. He was very polite and was very cute for a kid. He immediately spotted Jackson and went to him after a few short minutes.

Piney then brought three people into the kitchen to introduce to her, Clay Morrow, Tig Trager and Bobby Munson. They were nice enough to her, but they didn't know her. Tig even tried to hit on her, but stopped after seeing the look on Piney's face.

Gemma's seat was next to John while Luann was sitting next to Otto. The only seat left was the one between Piney and Happy. Feeling her cheeks become hot, Maya took her seat, all the while glaring at Gemma, who kept smirking at her.

'Here, have some scotch,' said Piney, filling her glass, starting their second lesson. 'Try not to choke.'

'Why would she choke on scotch?' Happy asked curiously. Maya felt something flutter in her stomach at the sound of his voice. His deep, throaty, rough voice. Hating that feeling, she tried to supress it as much as possible. She wasn't Zamir.

'I don't think –'

'She choked on some Irish Whiskey,' said Piney, handing her the glass. 'Try not to choke this time.'

If she was blushing before, she was now positively red with embarrassment. Without another word, Maya gulped down the whole glass, trying not to choke again and give Piney the satisfaction of making fun of her again.

'There, satisfied?' said Maya, grinning at him like a Cheshire cat.

'Can we have some?' Jackson asked slyly. Him and Opie where flashing those innocent smiles while their eyes seemed to have grown bigger than usual.

'No,' said Gemma from across him. 'Don't you dare, Piney.'

'Wasn't going to,' said Piney, filling up his own glass and drinking from it.

Opie seemed okay with it while Jackson pouted, hoping that either Gemma or Piney would soon relent and give in. once he realised that this wasn't going to happen, he looked at Maya, still pouting, but she just gave him a smile and shook her head. Feeling deflated, he just turned away from all the adults and talked with Opie.

Once all the food was brought out, they said Grace and dug in.

Dinner was amazing. Luann and Gemma did most of the cooking while Maya chopped and peeled everything. She talked to Piney, Jackson, Opie and even Happy. She felt Gemma's eyes on her every time she turned to Happy.

They didn't really talk about anything too heavy. Mostly about the weather, the food, and he talked a bit about his bike, though she didn't really understand any of it. Maya saw some people look over at them, mostly look over at Happy. It gave her the impression that he really didn't talk much. A man of action than words. But she liked that he talked to her. She liked the small smiles he gave her before putting his mask back on again. She liked him.

Maya helped Gemma and Luann clean up the table once dinner was over. The guys all went back outside, something about a club meeting, according to Luann but she didn't elaborate further. While cleaning a dish, the doorbell rung and Gemma opened the door to great a police officer, Wayne Unser. Apparently he was also a part of the secret meeting.

'Is everything okay?' Maya asked, worried for the guys.

'Yeah,' said Gemma, trying to brush it off. 'There might be a rat in the charter. That's why Wayne's here. He's got some intel.'

'What happens when they find the rat?' Maya asked.

Gemma picked up a knife and made a motion of cutting Luann's neck.

'Oh,' Maya said quietly before getting back to the dishes.

'Does that bother you?' Gemma asked, standing very close to Maya. Her hands were on her hips and she was staring Maya down, almost challenging her.

'Not at all,' Maya said, surprising herself with how true that statement was. She looked Gemma in the eye with a small smile, and in turn, she got a smile back.

Once the dishes were clean, she went to the living room where Jackson and Opie were playing some video game about race cars, guns and some other things she didn't know. Opie tried to teach her how to play, but Jackson kept kicking her ass each round, until the very last one when Opie distracted him and Maya knocked the controller out of his hand, winning the game.

'Cheat!' cried out Jackson, pointing his finger at Maya and Opie, who were laughing. 'You both are cheaters!'

'What's going on in here?' John asked, walking back into the house. 'What's all the yelling?'

'Those two cheated!' Jackson screamed, still pointing his finger at Maya and Opie.

'So?' asked John, shrugging.

'They cheated!' Jackson said again.

'That's your fault,' said John honestly. 'You let them cheat. You didn't put your guard up and you became careless. They cheated because they saw an opportunity and you let it happen.'

Jackson sat there gapping at his father before yelling, 'MMMAAA!' and left to go look for Gemma.

Maya and Opie were still laughing and holding on to each other for support.

'Yeah, I'm going to pay for that one,' John muttered before looking at Maya. 'Do you need a ride back?'

Still breathless, Maya nodded.

'I can drop you off,' said Happy, walking back into the house with Piney.

'That's – it's fine – you don't –' Maya said, breathless from laughing, not because she saw Happy, who was wearing a small smile.

'It's fine,' said Happy. John and Piney were now staring at him as though he sprouted feathers. 'Let's go.'

'Can we get some ice cream on the way?' Maya asked him quietly as he walked to the front door.

'Sure,' he said, sounding a bit reluctant.

She gave Opie, Piney and John a hug before thanking them for inviting her to dinner. She could hear Gemma and Jackson fighting about something or another in the other room and didn't want to get in the crossfires. She knew Luann and Otto were outside have a moment and Thomas was sleeping. Just as she closed the door behind her, she heard John whisper, 'What the fuck,' to Piney.

It took them about ten minutes or so before reaching the same ice cream place they went to before. They ordered the same thing and sat on the same bench.

'So, how have you been since the last time I saw you?' Maya asked.

'Fine,' said Happy, focusing on his ice cream. 'You?'

Maya shrugged, moving her ice cream around in the cup and licking the spoon, then repeating the same action.

'Have you killed someone before?' Maya asked just as Happy finished his ice cream.

He looked at her for a moment and she was almost regretted asking before he said, 'Yes.'

Maya nodded. 'Many people?'

'Yes.'

'Bad people?'

'Some.'

'Children?'

'No. Never kids.'

Maya nodded again. 'Are you going to kill me?'

'What?' said Happy, sounding shocked and insulted. 'Geez, what's with your questions? Second time I met you, you asked me if I was going to hit you.'

'Just asking,' said Maya, shrugging. After a slight pause she asked, 'Well, are you?'

'No,' Happy snapped.

Maya nodded again before drinking up her melted ice cream and throwing the cup away. They just sat there on the bench, looking at everywhere except each other. The questions obviously crossed a major line that Maya didn't notice.

'I'm sorry,' she blurted out after as silence started to slowly kill her. 'The questions were –'

'It's fine,' said Happy, getting up and putting his helmet on and handing her one. 'Come on, I'll take you home.'

'I really am sorry,' Maya said as she got on the bike.

'I know,' said Happy as the rode back to her house.

Ten minutes of agonizing silence before they finally reached her place. Maya didn't know what to say. She insulted him and he barely showed any emotions as to how he was feeling. She couldn't tell if he was mad or sad, or if he just didn't care about her.

'Thanks for the ride,' Maya offered meekly.

Happy nodded before saying, 'I'm not going to kill you or hit you.'

'Good to know,' Maya muttered before walking to her door and opening it. She turned around and waved at him as he drove away.

Feeling like a complete idiot, she sat down on the couch before hitting herself with a pillow.

'Good job, Maya,' she said to herself. 'Way to end a perfectly nice day by asking someone if he's going to kill you. Amazing you are, truly amazing.'

Feeling exhausted, she laid her head on the same pillow and drifted off to sleep, forgetting about Zamir and that he was coming back in four days. Forgetting that she might never see Piney, John or Happy after Zamir came back.

* * *

The four days went by very quickly. Very, very quickly. She spent as much time as she could with either Luann or Gemma. She even went back to the porn studio with Luann just to get out of the house, though what she witnessed was very horrific. She visited Gemma in the garage and looked after Thomas, Jackson and Opie when Gemma and the guys were busy. She didn't get to see Happy though, that's the only thing that made her sad in those days. That, and well, Zamir coming home.

It was nearly nine o'clock at night and Maya wasn't prepared for his return. She didn't know what to do or where to be. Should she great him, or should she wait in the kitchen and see how his mood was today? Maya was panicking when the door opened and she was in the kitchen. She braced herself and quietly walked to the living room.

Zamir wasn't facing her. He took his coat off and rolled up his sleeves. He knew she was there, that's for sure.

'What's for dinner?' he asked, finally turning around.

'I'm making some chicken,' Maya said quietly. 'And I'm boiling some eggs, if you want.'

Zamir narrowed his eyes at her before walked into the kitchen. She heard the oven door slam and nothing else. She walked to the kitchen to see Zamir looking at the chicken in disgust. It wasn't cooked yet. She only put it in ten minutes before he came back.

'It's not cooked,' Maya said quietly, reaching out for the cloth to put it back inside.

Just as she was about to grab the pot, his hands held onto her arm. Maya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He shoved her away before drawing back to punch her in the face. She moved her head and he got the wall instead.

'AHH! You stupid bitch!' Zamir yelled, glaring at her murderously. Maya was thinking of a way to get out, but he was blocking the door. She tried to sneak around him as he checked his knuckles, but he was faster.

'You think you can just escape me?' he whispered, clutching her jaw every tightly while his other arm was holding her waist close to his. 'Never going to happen.'

Zamir's eyes flickered around the room madly as he was searching for something. Maya prayed that he didn't find, prayed that he would just leave her and leave the house soon. But that wasn't going to happen. Good things don't happen to her like that.

He pushed her against the counter and flipped her around so that her back was facing him. He made quick work of her shirt and bra by using the kitchen knife before setting it down. He held her hands very tightly behind her back while holding her in place with his body. In the corner of her eyes, she saw him grab the pot with the boiling water and eggs.

'Please, please don't do this,' Maya pleaded, tears flowing down her cheeks. 'Please.'

She saw him put the pot down and let out a small sigh of relief. His fingers ran down her back, touching her as though she was some delicate flower.

'Such soft skin,' he mumbled. 'Such a pity.'

Zamir kissed her should blade before grabbing the boiling pan and dumping the contents on her back. Maya screamed, but he quickly covered her mouth. It didn't take him long to finish. The right side of her back was burning. She didn't move, knowing that he wouldn't like that and do something else to her.

'Look at what you did,' he said softly, looking at the ground. 'Better clean that up.'

Making sure she wasn't going to scream. He left the kitchen and went to the bedroom, slamming the door.

Sliding to the floor, Maya was shaking. She was hugging herself tightly while crying hysterical on her lap. Picking up what was left of her shirt; she took out the sewing kit in the living room and quickly did it. It was sloppy, but she didn't want to see Zamir again. She didn't want to give him another excuse to hurt her. Once she did that, she went back to the kitchen and cleaned up the water and broken egg on the floor.

She took her time before everything was finished. It was close to midnight before everything was clean. She went back to the couch and hugged the pillow close to her. Slowly, she cried herself to sleep, wishing he just left her for Karen.

* * *

Living in hell would have been better compared to living with Zamir. Maya tried to avoid him as much as possible, though she was finding it very hard to do.

She hasn't seen Luann or Gemma since and she didn't want them to see her like this. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. All she does now is cook and clean the house. She makes sure it's always cooked before he gets home, but he always finds some fault with it. Too salty, too spice, not enough this, not enough that.

New bruises are forming on her body. It's always the stomach and her arms. Sometimes even the neck. Her back hasn't been touched since the day he came back. Her back was completely red and some of the skin was starting to shine. Maya apply some cold water to it every day, but no changes. In the end she just gave up and cried.

She cried for everything. She cried because her father was dead. She cried because her mother and brother were greed. She cried because she picked Zamir out of frustration. She cried because there was this constant reminder that she was stupid on her back. She cried because she didn't know what else to do.

* * *

It was about a week later when Maya's prayers were finally heard. Someone was actually listening to her silent pleas of help. She was taking out the garbage when Zamir pulled her aside and told her that he was going to Utah for five days. He simply said that it was for work and gave her twenty dollar with a warning not to spend it all at once.

Maya only smiled when she saw the car pull out of the drive way and disappear down the road. Unbeknownst to her, she didn't see someone watching her from Luann's backyard. She didn't see the look on his face or the rage in his eyes.

* * *

Mark the Shit-Face wasn't actually Mark the Shit-Face. He was actually Walter Roach and he was a cop. He was apparently some rookie trying to find a case that wasn't there. Unser told them that he wanted to prove that he wasn't just some newbie and went after the Sons. He also told them that there wasn't a case against them and that Roach was just looking to make a name for himself.

Everyone was mad, Lenny nearly went ballistic. Calling the fucker every name in the book and even took out his gun to go hunt him down. It took three of them to hold him back, but after John gave him the command, he cooled down, though he was still fuming.

Knowing that something had to be done about the Shit-Face, John appointed Otto and Happy to take care of him. Lenny was mad, but he knew that he was too hot-headed to deal with it himself. He'd sent the bastard on fire before killing him slowly.

Not that Happy wouldn't do that; he just didn't want to waste valuable time and energy on someone clearly not worth it. He wanted Shit-Face dead, but he wanted it done quickly so that Happy wouldn't have to look at his face again.

He went to Otto's house early and walked into the backyard, getting some of the guns Otto kept in the shed. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Maya. Maya, the Indian girl that actually made him smile. She was innocent and small, but there was some fire in her that Happy admired. She was curious, almost to a fault. She carried herself well, not like Gemma or Luann. She carried herself with her own confidence. Gemma and Luann dressed up for parties or events, Maya didn't. She came in sweatpants and owned it. But, hell, even in jeans she was still a knock out.

He watched her take out the trash with her grey sweatpants, looking as though she just rolled out of bed. He wondered how she would look in bed, moving on top of him with her back arching and her black hair all over the place as he flipped them over. Her moaning his name over and over again until she was rendered speechless.

His thoughts were cut short when he saw someone exit the house. Some guy in a cheap suit pulling her aside, clutching her arm tightly as though she was his possession. That's when he noticed the wedding ring on his finger and the one on hers. He never saw it before. She must have hidden it all this time. Happy would have noticed something like that.

He saw the guy leave the driveway quickly while Maya walked back inside her house. Fuming, he didn't even see Otto come out of his house, or hear him at all.

'Happy, are you listening to me?' Otto repeated for the third time. 'Are you okay, brother?'

'Yeah,' said Happy, turning away from Maya's house. 'Let's go.'

He noticed the worried look on Otto's face the whole time they drove up to the cabin. They told Shit-Face to meet them there, saying that they had an important task for him to do. He ate it up, thinking he was going to do something that would get him closer to the club. Fucker.

Happy and Otto didn't have to wait long until they heard Shit-Face's cheap-ass bike pull up. They immediately went outside. Otto did most of the talking while Happy stood there, waiting for the kill.

'Mark,' said Otto, sighing, 'we know that you're really Walter Roach.'

Straight to the point, no nonsense, that's how Otto deals with things. Shit-Face tried to look confused.

'What are you talking about?' he said.

Otto, sighing again, took out the water bottle inside his cut. He poured it all over Shit-Face's face before rubbing his hands on him. The tattoos came off very quickly. Shit-Face didn't do anything. He just stood there, with all the colour from his face gone.

'You're going to kill me,' Shit-Face stated.

'Yes, Walter, Happy's going to kill you. Gave me back your cut,' said Otto, reaching out for it. Shit-Face took it off slowly before handing it over. He took a few deep breaths before Otto motioned towards the woods. He walked there slowly while Happy and Otto followed him.

'Nothing I say is going to change your decision, right?' Shit-Face asked when Otto told him to stop walking.

'Right,' said Otto. Happy put the silencer on his gun. You never know if someone just happens to drive by and hears the shots.

Once it was secured on, Happy shot Shit-Face on the back of his head. He lied to them, he lied to the club. Nobody lies to the club, especially some fucking prospect. And some chick that nobody knew.

Feeling more livid than before, he fired again. And again, and again, and again. He made sure that lyin' bitch was dead.

'Are you done?' said Otto, looking furious that Happy just wasted perfectly good ammo.

Happy fired another bullet before putting the gun away. Otto just sighed and called up John, telling him to send a couple prospects (the non-undercover cop ones) and that Shit-Face was dead.

'What the hell is wrong with you?' Otto asked, nearly demanded as they got on their bikes. Piney was apparently coming up to make sure the prospects did a good job.

'Nothing,' Happy said shortly.

'Of course, nothing's wrong,' Otto said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. 'You just wasted good bullets for someone that died on the fir –'

'Did you know Maya was married?' Happy said abruptly, not wanted to hear the rest of whatever Otto was going to say. Also, he just wanted to know.

Otto looked shocked for a moment before smiling. 'So, that's what this is about? Yeah, I knew.'

'And you didn't tell me?' Happy said, grinding his teeth.

'You never asked,' Otto shrugged.

Happy closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to supress the urge to punch his brother.

'So what? She's married. It's not like she's happy,' said Otto, strapping his helmet on just as they heard a roar of motorcycles coming closer to them.

'What?'

But before Otto could say anything Piney asked them where the body was and they left for the clubhouse while Happy was still pondering over Otto's words.

* * *

When Zamir left that day, Maya entered the house and sat down on the couch, feeling safe in her house again. She quickly went over to Luann's, wondering if she wanted to go get lunch or do something together. Luann, looking happy that Zamir had also left, told her that there was going to be another party at the garage and told Maya that she was going to pick her up at seven.

Nodding enthusiastically, Maya went back to her house and took a nice, long bath. Enjoying the feeling of peace while her body finally relaxed after days of beatings it went through.

She got dressed at six and was ready by the time Luann picked her up. She was wearing jeans this time with a long sleeve black top with her jean jacket. She covered up some of the bruises on her neck and checked to make sure that the rest weren't visible.

While Luann was driving, Maya was practically bouncing on her seat. Luann kept telling her to stop, though she kept laughing at Maya's antics. By the time they got there, Maya jumped out of the car and hugged the first person she saw, which was Clay Morrow. He looked shock. Really, really shocked, but hugged her back.

'Oh, I missed you,' Maya mumbled, still hugging him.

'Er – I missed you too – Maya,' he said, giving Luann curious looks while she just laughed.

Luann preyed Maya off of him and took her to the clubhouse, where she hugged Piney.

'Hey, where have you been?' he asked, returning the hug more enthusiastically than Clay.

'Why? Have you missed me?' Maya asked. To avoid a question, answer with another question.

'None of them compare to you,' said Piney, handing her a bottle of beer. Luann had ventured off into the party, most likely searching for Otto.

'You didn't answer my question, where have you been?' Okay, maybe that plan didn't work.

'Home,' Maya said simply.

'And you could come and visit me?' he said.

'Too long of a walk. And you could have visited me.'

'Too long of a drive,' Piney retorted.

Oh, how she loved spending time with Piney. They didn't talk about anything too personal. He talked about Opie sometime, but was as far as it went. He most gave her different drinks to try and she tried to learn all their names. She had fun with him.

Half way through her seventh drink, Vodka imported from Portland, Maya saw Happy. She brightened up and was about to say hello when he just ignored her and turned away, waking out of the clubhouse. Maya looked confused, even Piney looked confused. She got up and walked after him. It must have been the alcohol that made her do that. It made her chase after Happy.

He kept walking until he reached the garage and walked to the side. It was a secluded place to talk, or have a fight, depending on how this was going to go down. He knew that she was following him, Maya knew that.

The moment he stopped walking, he rounded off on her, his face furious as he scowled at her. His dark eyes were burning with fury and he was shaking with his fists clenched at his sides.

'You're married,' his voice dripping with venom.

Maya felt her blood run cold. 'Yes.'

'And you never mentioned that. All those times were spent together, on rides getting fucking ice cream, and you never once mentioned that you were married.'

'Okay, I get that you're mad but –'

'Oh, I'm more than mad, I'm pissed,' Happy spat out, glaring at her.

'There wasn't a right time to tell you,' Maya said, becoming pissed herself. 'You can't just slip this into a conversation like that.'

'Of course not,' said Happy, rolling his eyes, sneering at her. 'I just had to find out this morning when I saw the two of you. Tell me, where's your wedding ring? Do you always take it off when he leaves, or when you want to fuck someone in the clubhouse?'

Maya took a step back. That was low. She wasn't Zamir. She doesn't hook up with someone just because she wanted to. Sure, she had some sort of feelings towards Happy, but she never acted on it like that. Unlike Zamir, those vows meant something to her.

'That was low,' Maya whispered. 'I am not some sort of croweater. I –'

'You sure have a funny way of acting like one,' Happy interrupted her.

'I'm not!' Maya yelled. 'I'm not a croweater or some sort of slut that goes around sleeping with guys when her husband' – she spat that word out –'goes out of town, okay? I just – just – URGH!'

She threw her hands in the air, frustrated with the situation and angry that she was talking about Zamir to Happy, the last person she would ever want to talk about her problems with. She leaned her back against the garage and winched at the impact. She didn't notice her shirt riding up. She didn't notice Happy's eyes following her movements.

'What's that?' Happy asked, his voice considerable softer. He was staring at the bottom of her shirt.

'Wh – ? Hey!'

Happy lifted her shirt up and Maya pulled it down quickly, but the damage was already done. He saw the bruises on her stomach. He saw the red and the purple covering her stomach.

'He –' Happy began, but it was Maya's turn to be angry.

'He does nothing,' Maya snapped. 'This is my problem, not yours. You're obviously still pissed that I didn't tell you I'm married and I'm not sorry. Just mind your own business, okay?'

Without waiting for an answer, she walked away from him and into the clubhouse. She sat down next to Piney and drank the whole night away. By the time the party was over, she finished eight bottles of beer. The last one was hard to get through, but she managed. Piney tried several times to get her to stop, but she kept drinking on, ignoring him and his looks of concern.

Maya vaguely remembered someone catching her when she stood up. She passed out just before she took her first step and hit the ground.

**Thank you for reading!**


	5. Prologue V

**disclaimer: I don't own anything! I know this whole prologue thing is taking forever. The next one will be the last, I promise. Just, bear with me for a while. Also, WARNING: Zamir. **

Prologue V

Maya was going to kill whoever was poking her. It wasn't like they were poking her shoulder or her arms. No, they were poking her nose, her cheek and her lips. Opening her eyes slowly, she was met with blue eyes staring at her.

'She's awake!' Jackson yelled towards the kitchen, hurting Maya's brain.

'Jackson, shut up,' Maya groaned, turning over and putting the pillow to her head, trying to block everything out.

'Sorry, Maya, have to do this,' he said, pulling on the blanket and taking the pillow away. 'Ma's in the living room waiting for you. You're in trouble,' he held out the last syllable for as long as he could.

'I'm tired,' she muttered.

'Yeah, well I was tired too when Ma dragged me along here at seven in the morning,' said Jackson, smiling at her. 'You're lucky she didn't wake you up then.'

'What time is it?'

'Ten,' said Jackson. 'Come on, get up.'

He grabbed her hand and started to pull on her. Maya pushed him away and got up by herself. Jackson ran to the kitchen and Maya followed steadily.

He was right, she was in trouble. Gemma was sitting on the dining room table with the seat next to her pushed open with a steaming mug of coffee in front of it. Jackson was in the kitchen going through the fridge.

Maya took her seat and drank some coffee. Sweet, sweet coffee. Gemma must have noticed Maya feeling better since she started her questions.

'What to tell me what that hell happened yesterday?'

'I was drunk,' Maya said simply.

'What happened with Happy?'

'Nothing.'

'Bullshit,' Gemma snapped. 'John heard the two of you. He was in the shop looking over some paperwork when he heard the two of you.'

'Why was John working at that time?'

'Not the fucking point,' said Gemma, glaring at her. 'Why did you –?'

'Push Happy away?' Maya finished for her. 'Because he pissed me off. Saying that I was some sort of croweater that slept around with the guys in the clubhouse.'

'He was mad at you.'

'And I was mad at him. Where does he go off saying shit like that? Huh? I didn't tell him I was married, big fucking deal! It's not like we were best friends or that we were going out or something like that. We just hung out and went for ice cream together sometime. He doesn't have to know about every detail of my life.'

'You go out for ice cream?' Gemma asked, a bit shocked.

'Twice,' said Maya, her hands on her mouth now as she was thinking. 'He knows about Zamir.'

'Yeah, and so does John. He managed to convince Happy not to go after him.'

'Yeah, well, I don't care,' said Maya, trying to sound as though the thought of someone stand up for her did make her insides tingle. Happy wanted to go after Zamir. Happy wanted to beat, or something like that, to Zamir.

Gemma just snorted and shook her head.

'Hey, Maya,' said Jackson, walking into living room, 'what was that thing on your back?'

'Nothing,' Maya said quickly. The tingly feeling she got before was now gone. She felt something in her chest drop and gripped her mug tighter.

'What's on your back?' Gemma asked.

'Nothing.'

'Don't lie to me.'

'Nothing, I swear!'

'Jackson, what did you see?' Gemma asked, turning to her son.

Jackson looked between Gemma and Maya. Gemma was staring at him, as though trying to read his mind or stare into his soul to get the answers. She was waiting for his answer. Maya was looking as though she was pleading with him. Begging him with her eyes that he wouldn't say anything, or that it was his imagination. Jackson knows to some extent that Maya was not happy. He and Opie overheard John and Piney talk about her after dinner that day. According to Piney, she said to him, 'Crappy husband, crappy family, crappy life.' He pitied in her for that, though he was only six.

'Just imagining things, Ma,' said Jackson, trying not to give anything away.

Gemma narrowed her eyes at him before looking between him and Maya. Their faces were neutral, no emotions anywhere. She sighed in frustration before getting up.

'Well, we'd better get going, it's my turn to take him and Opie out for ice cream,' said Gemma, giving Maya a look as though she still didn't believe her. 'I was going to draw you a bath, out of the goodness of my heart, but your tub is clogged up. I called someone and he should be here soon. Real neat freak that one. Just… let him help you.'

'Fine,' said Maya. 'How did it get clogged up?'

'I don't know,' said Gemma, shrugging. 'I don't take showers here.'

Jackson was shaking his head. Gemma gave him a look that Maya did not miss.

'I took a bath yesterday and it wasn't clogged,' said Maya, crossing her arms as they left the house.

'Things happen,' said Gemma vaguely. 'You can't help these things.'

Maya sighed as they got into their car. Gemma did something to her pipes, no doubt about it. She either did it herself or got Jackson to do it. She just wondered what Gemma Teller was up to.

* * *

Maybe she should have considered Gemma's choice of words, then she would have figured out her intentions and pretended she wasn't in the house. But that was the cowardly way out. Of course, she hasn't been the bravest person in the last couple of months. She tried to hide and stay out of Zamir's way, but she never really stood up to him, or fought back.

But getting back to the point, Gemma. Actually, Happy. Happy, who was standing in front of her with a toolbox saying that Gemma called him about her pipes. Happy, looking at her with his usual masked face. Happy, whose left hand was slightly fidgeting. She notices everything.

Maya invites him inside, looking at him, but not looking at him in the eyes. A part of her felt a little guilty after seeing him, but the other part knew that it was no one's fault in the end.

She shows him the bathtub and leaves him there to do… whatever plumbers do, or in this case Happy. She goes to the kitchen and starts washing the piles of dishes there. Should she get him something to drink? Something to eat? Say something? Not the weather, definitely not. Talk about his bike? Can't keep up with that. Talk about the club? Not much he can say to her. Talk about last night? Definitely not. At least, not right now.

It takes him about half an hour before he fixes it. Apparently it was clogged with hair. He fixed it and the tub works again.

Maya wanted to snort. Gemma must have gotten some fake wig and stuffed the whole thing down her tub just so that _this _can happen. She didn't know whether she wanted to kick Gemma or hug her. Probably both.

'Do you need any help?' Happy asks her, looking at the dirt sink with distaste.

'Um, sure, if you want,' said Maya, remembering what Gemma said. Neat freak.

And they worked together in silence. She washed and he dried. No words were spoken, but it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. There were so many times she just wanted to reach out and touch his hand, it was right there, but she placed her hands carefully on the plates and cups just so that it wouldn't happen. It wasn't right; no matter how much she wanted it, it wasn't right to go back on marriage vows. It still meant _something_ to her.

'And that's it,' said Maya, finally speaking.

Happy nodded, looking at her while she was staring into the sink.

'You, um, want anything to eat?' Maya asked. Her tummy just growled. She could make a sandwich, if there was any food in the fridge.

'Sure,' said Happy.

Opening the fridge, Maya just sighed. There was barely any food in there except for bread, one apple and some butter.

'No sandwich then, great, just great,' Maya mumbled.

'What have you been eating the last couple days?' Happy asked. He was right behind here. She could fell his breath on her shoulders.

'I usually go out with Luann and pack some of the food and just eat it here,' said Maya, closing the fridge. 'Or I just make some toast for myself. I don't really eat much.'

Happy just looked at her for a moment, his jaw grinding while trying to maintain some self-control.

'Come on,' said Happy, digging through his pockets for his keys. 'There's a great burger joint I know. I'll take you there.'

'You don't –'

'And I'm coming back tomorrow and we're going grocery shopping,' he continued, ignoring her. 'No arguments. Do you have money?'

'Yeah, some,' said Maya. About fifty dollars' worth.

'Good, let's go.'

Lunch was quiet. They didn't talk much, mostly because they avoided what they should have been talking about. They talked about the usual things. Weather, some parts of the club she could know, the burgers.

'I had a really nice time,' Maya said, as he dropped her off. 'Thanks.'

'Sure,' said Happy. 'I'll be back tomorrow.'

'Sure.'

She wanted to do something to show that she was thankful. Luann would have given Otto a big kiss while Gemma would have more or less done the same. More actually. They both would have done more. They both would have shown their appreciation with words and action.

So Maya hugged Happy.

It was really weird considering he was still on his bike and she couldn't, well, properly hug him. He was taken back, but soon wrapped his arms around her, still on the bike. He smelled like whiskey, smoke and the woods. He smelled good. Maya breathed him in before letting go.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' she said quietly, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Happy just simply nodded before starting up his bike and driving away.

Maya turned around, about to walk back into her house, when she saw Luann coming out of the backyard. She just stood there, smiling a Maya before giving a small wink and a wave. Maya just rolled her eyes and waved back, wondering when Gemma's call was going to come.

* * *

Gemma didn't call, so Luann either told her and she's doing nothing, or Luann didn't tell her. Mostly likely Luann told, but Gemma is trying to make John or Piney get some information out of Happy. Maya doesn't know who her mind works, but it just does, in some way that is more complex than Maya's.

Happy came back in the afternoon, except his didn't have his bike, he brought the garage's truck.

'John let me have it for the day,' he explained just as Maya got in. 'Slow day, nothing much to do.'

Maya nodded, and they fell back into comfortable silence.

He took her to a market owned by some local citizens. Thankfully, none of the things were expensive. She just most of the essentials.

'Why are you doing this?' Maya finally asked as they loaded up the food in the back. 'Why are you going around fixing my tub, taking me out for burgers, helping me get food? Why?'

Happy stayed quite until all the bags were safely in the car. Maya was still waiting for an answer, looking at him expectantly. And she got on, but, boy was she not expecting that.

Happy kissed her. Maya's back was against the truck, and he kissed her.

He pulled back, remembering that she was married. Remembering that she gets abused and attacked by her husband every day, so he thinks. Actually, he knows it happens. Remembering that vows must mean something to her, as Gemma kept saying to him.

Maya stands there for a moment, staring at Happy with her face showing no emotions. She just blinks a couple times, trying to comprehend what was going on.

She had kissed a total of three guys in her life. She's not counting Zamir because, well, it's Zamir. Her first kiss was with Naveen Patel. They were both five and wondered what was so great about two adults bringing their lips together. It never made sense to them, and it still didn't after they kissed. Her second kiss was with Krish Verma. They were about fifteen or sixteen, and both very awkward around each other since they were friends for many years. One thing led to another and they were making out behind the school, making sure that nobody saw them. It became even more awkward and they barely talked to each other after that. The kiss wasn't even that good.

They were all boys, but Happy, Happy was different. Happy was real. Happy was a man.

Lost in her memories of lame kisses in the past, Maya missed whatever Happy was saying.

'… I know that you're married to – well, whoever – and I'm –'

'Shut up,' said Maya, closing her eyes for a second.

Slowly, she lightly touched his jaw. He didn't move, but watched her very carefully. She moved her thumb slightly before kissing him. It was just a touch, just to see if he was still responsive, and he was. He immediately deepened it. He wrapped his arms around her waist before walking forward a bit so that Maya was squished between him and the truck. Completely forgetting that they were outside in broad daylight and that everybody can see them. They just got lost in each other's touch.

They only pulled away from each other when they heard a car honking and several people shouting. Maya jumped a bit, forgetting where she was, and immediately regretting it.

'We can't do this again,' she said in a hushed tone. 'It's not right.'

Happy looked unhappy at this. His jaw was fixed and any sort of life that was in his eyes were now gone. He just nodded and they both got in the car.

The whole way back, Maya wanted to say something, anything. _The kiss was perfect. It was amazing. Can we do it again sometime? _No, none of those things. The kiss was perfect, no denying it. But they can never do it again. She was married. She wasn't Zamir. She doesn't have affairs with people. She's not like that. She will not stoop down to his level.

Nothing was said during the drive. Just like nothing was said when they reached her house and unpacked the food. Maya didn't ask whether he wanted anything to eat or drink because they would require talking and more importantly, talking to Happy. She would lose any sort of self-control and either kiss him again or tell him everything. So she just settled for smiling and nodding politely. And he did the same, except for the smiles.

* * *

For the rest of the day Maya did nothing except watch TV. She was slightly hooked onto Happy Days now, mostly because of The Fonz. He was a cool guy. She didn't expect anything to happen. She certainly didn't expect to see Zamir come back early.

He looked like a mess. His shirt was untucked and messy. His hair was all over the place and he was reeking of alcohol. Maya immediately got up for the couch, trying not to stare at him in disbelief.

'Hello, _wife,_' Zamir sneered, walking closely towards her. 'Have a nice time while I was away?'

'It was okay,' Maya said cautiously as she backed away from him.

'Really? Did you have fun? Did you meet new people? Did you kiss someone?!' he shouted.

Maya gulped, but tried to maintain her composure and act like she didn't know what he was talking about.

'I have no idea wha –'

'LIAR! Liar, liar pants on fire!' he sang, pointing her finger at her. 'I saw you today! I SAW YOU KISSING HIM!'

'I –'

'STOP LYING! Tell me the truth! Did you or did you not kiss that biking bastard?!' Zamir spat out, her face furious and his eyes burning with hatred.

Maya, feeling insulted at the bastard part, stood up straight. Not knowing what came over her, she siad, 'And he was much more better than you.'

Zamir just stood there for a second, letting the words sink in before punching her until she hit the ground.

'I never went to Utah,' he added after he kicked her in the stomach. 'I never went to Florida. I was here the whole time. I was with Karen, fucking her. Did you know she's better than you?'

'Just like how Happy's better?' Maya gasped out, as he slammed his foot on her left hand. She heard something crack. Multiple things crack.

'Is that his name? Happy,' he said, snorting. 'Pathetic, just like you.'

He kicked her again before picking her up by her hair and slapping her a few times. Maya tried to fight back, she really did, but he was stronger and fueled by anger. Anger does that to you. It blinds you until all you see is red.

Zamir let go of her hair and she fell to the ground, groaning. He took of his belt slowly before raising it above his head and hitting her with it.

The pain was unbearable. Everything was aching. He hit her in every single possible place he could. Her head, her shoulders, her chest, her stomach, her back, her legs, her face. He hit her until every spot became red and purple bruises were forming on her neck. He hit her until he saw blood on her. He hit her until he realized she was out cold and her chest wasn't moving.

When you're drunk, it doesn't make you that smart. It actually lowers your IQ a bit at that moment. For Zamir, there wasn't much to begin with. Thinking he actually killed her (I know, not that smart), he quickly went to the bathroom and threw up. Panicking, he formed a plan, while still being drunk. He would pack his bags and just leave. He would vanish. _Pop. _Gone.

He packed the rest of his clothes, got his passport, important papers and just left. He drove away until he saw that he was somewhere close to Phoenix. He would hide her for a while. He was good at hiding.

It would have been better this way. He would stay out of Charming, away from that _bitch _and her _fucking boyfriend._

* * *

On certain days, Luann has a strict schedule. On a day like today, Tuesday, she would take a shower, put some toast in the toaster, take out the garbage, make sure none of the neighbourhood kids left anything in her mailbox, have breakfast with Otto and head to work.

She got everything done until the garbage. As she glanced over at Maya's house, the door was open. She just looked at it for a moment, thinking that Maya would certainly close it in the next couple seconds. When that didn't happen, Luann walked over there, just to make sure everything was alright.

What was supposed to be a nice, normal day for Luann was now turned around by the sight in front of her.

Maya on the ground with every inch of her beaten and bruised up. Her face was almost unrecognizable. Her lips were split; her eyes were black and closed. Her cheeks swollen with cuts and her hand looked as though it was broken.

Luann gave a terrified scream before covering her mouth. She did the only sensible thing she could. She called 911, and then called Gemma. She then went back to Otto, telling him everything and then the two of them waited for the ambulance. Otto stayed behind to answer some of the police's questions, though he hated all of them, while Luann went with Maya to the hospital.

Gemma met her in the hospital, and well as the whole club. Once Luann told them everything, they were all pissed. None more than Happy. He was fuming. Luann never saw him angry like this. He's usually the quite sort of guy that just does it quietly. But no, this time it's worse. He wanted to go after Zamir (well, who else could it be?). He wanted to cave that guy's skull in and do it with a smile on his face. He wanted to torture him until he begged for mercy. Luann doesn't know if Happy really does that, but she's pretty sure he likes it. Piney, Lenny and Tig had to hold him back, saying that they'll go after him soon, but they need to make sure that Maya was okay. He didn't like it, but he sat down and glared at everyone and everything.

Four hours it took until someone came out and told them the news. She has a broken wrist and hand, a minor concussion, several broken ribs, a punctured lung due to the ribs, burns on her back, and many bruises. The doctor looked repulsed as she read everything out loud. She was a young doctor, at least in the last twenties or early thirties, probably never seen anything like this.

If Happy was angry before, he was positively seething with rage. His arms were shaking and some of the guys looked scared. They knew what Happy was capable of. They've all seen it. But this was different, this was personal. Everything before was just business. They were scared to see if he was capable of more. More damage, more torture, more ruthlessness.

The doctor said that Maya was going in for surgery and that it might take a while. They had to repair her hand, the lung and the ribs. She said that the concussion should be healed over time properly, just as long as she doesn't do anything to extreme. Not knowing what else to say, the doctor walked away and the guys formed a plan.

It was simple really; Happy, Piney, Lenny, Clay, Bobby, Wally, Otto, Tom and John would go out looking for them. Tig will stay at the hospital just in case something happens and he could call them straight away, or if Zamir turns up. They also called in Unser, the cops were good in some situations. Tig was also to call other charters and warn them, and ask them to look out for Zamir. There must have been a picture of him somewhere in the house. The prospects will find it.

Jackson, Opie and Thomas stayed in the hospital with Tig, Gemma, and Luann. Thomas, being a baby, was oblivious to everything, and for that, Gemma was happy. Jackson and Opie knew what was happening, having listening in on the conversation. With whatever money they had between them, they got Maya a stuffed bear for the first shop. It wasn't much, but it was something and it said GET WELL SOON with a heart.

Three more hours until the surgery was complete and they guys didn't find that piece of shit. The same doctor came and told them that the surgery was a success and that Maya would need to come in once a week until her hand was completely heal and to make sure that there wasn't any permanent lasting damage to her lungs. Maya was now resting and that they would be able to see her later.

Tig immediately called John and then Unser. Still no sigh of the bastard and Happy's temper only increased.

**Thank you for reading! The next one is the last, I promise!**


	6. Prologue VI

**disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Prologue VI

_Broken wrist and hand, concussion, broken ribs, a punctured lung, burns on her back and bruises. _

That's what Happy kept chanting inside his head, over and over again. They couldn't find that bastard. They searched everywhere. Prospects got a picture of him and sent it to the other charters, but turned up with nothing. The cops couldn't find him, though Unser sent the message out to the other divisions. They kept looking, but nothing.

_Broken wrist and hand, concussion, broken ribs, a punctured lung, burns on her back and bruises._

* * *

The doctor told them that they could see Maya now since she got out of surgery and was awake. She will need to come in a couple times a week to get some therapy for her hand and to check up on her ribs and lung.

Gemma immediately called up their lawyer to come down to the hospital. She had some questions for him. Tig stayed in the waiting room while she, Luann, Jackson and Opie went inside. Luann jumped back in shock when they entered the room and Gemma's stomach churned. Jackson and Opie just stared at her, shocked.

Maya was laying on the bed with wires and what-not attached to her arms. Her head was wrapped in a bandage and there was a cast on her left arm. Her whole face was covered in bruises. Her left eye was swollen, as well as her right cheek and her bottom lip. There were probably more bruises, but they couldn't see it.

'Jackson, Opie, why don't you go wait outside?' said Luann, her arms shaking a bit as she led them out the door. They left without any argument.

They took the seats next to her bed. Maya opened her eyes.

'Thank you,' she said in a hoarse voice. 'Water?'

Luann got it immediately. Gemma waited until she was done.

'Why didn't you tell us?' she demanded. 'He burned your back. Jackson was right. Why didn't you say anything?'

'I was taking care of it,' Maya said softly.

'Oh, yeah, and it did you a world of good, didn't it? What is it again? Punctured lung, broken hand, broken ribs, burns and bruises. Oh yeah, everything's good, isn't it?' Gemma snapped.

'Gemma!' Luann scolded.

'He saw me kiss Happy,' Maya said even more quietly.

'What?' Gemma and Luann said at the same time.

'You and Happy kissed?' said Luann, shocked.

'Yeah, _he _saw it and got mad. He didn't even go to Utah. He was here the whole time and saw everything. That's why he did this,' Maya waved her hand towards her face and body.

'Jesus Christ,' whispered Gemma.

'I have to get a divorce or something,' Maya mumbled, mostly to herself. 'I need to get out of – whatever that was.'

'The club's got a lawyer,' said Gemma. 'I called him, he should be here soon.'

They didn't have to wait long for Tim to get down here. He entered the room with Tig, Jackson and Opie. He explained briefly and simply that she could get a divorce without that bastard's signature. He said he could file a petition for divorce, and once that's filled, the bastard will have 30 days to respond to the filing. If he doesn't, the court will view his refusal to respond as not contesting the divorce and will grant Maya a default divorce.

'So when can we do this?' Tig asked, checking his phone

'As soon as Maya says it's okay,' Tim said simply.

Maya nodded and Tim left to call some of his lawyer buddies. Luann and Tig left to call Otto and the guys while Gemma left to go get something for Maya to eat.

'Your back was burned,' said Jackson accusingly.

'Yes,' said Maya, nodding.

'You lied,' said Opie.

'Yes.'

'Here,' said Jackson, holding the teddy bear to her. 'We thought you might like it.'

Maya's heart swelled at the small gesture the boys made towards her.

'Thank you,' Maya said, holding the bear close while she gave Jackson and Opie a kiss on their foreheads.

* * *

As soon as they got the call, Happy raced over to the hospital. He passed by Tig, Gemma and Luann without so much as a Hello and entered Maya's room. She was in bed with Jackson and Opie sitting close on chairs. They were watching something on TV, but Happy paid no mind to that. They turned their attention to him immediately. Jackson and Opie looked at each other for a second before leaving the room quickly. Smart kids.

'Hi,' said Maya meekly, attempting to smile a bit, but it came out as a grimace.

'What happened?' Happy asked, though it came out more of a demand.

'He – er – he saw us kiss,' she said, adverting her eyes away from him. 'He got mad and, well, yeah…'

'He hits you,' said Happy.

'I think we've established that already.'

'You should have left him.'

'Well, I'm doing that now,' said Maya. 'I talked to Tim and he said that I could get a divorce, and _he _doesn't even have to sign the papers.'

Happy didn't say anything except nod. He took the seat next to hers.

'Thank you,' Maya whispered. 'Jackson and Opie told me that you guys were out looking for him. Thanks.'

Happy nodded again. Maya smiled and touched his hand for a moment before he held it.

'I'm not going anywhere,' he said.

'I know.'

* * *

It was a couple days later that Maya finally got out of the hospital, though she did have to come back a week later. The first person she saw was Tim, who had all the necessary paper works and got her to sign it everywhere. Once that was done, he said he would call her in a couple days to give her an update.

Gemma and Luann were there to pick her up. Gemma told her in a very calm, commanding voice that she was either going to coming stay with her or stay in the clubhouse. She didn't want Maya to go within a mile of her old house. Maya agreed in the end, after saying that she wasn't a baby and could take care of herself. It didn't help was she was outnumbered when Luann and John joined in.

Thankfully, not that many people were there when she got to Gemma's house. Just John, Jackson, Piney, Opie, Otto and Happy.

For the next couple week, Maya felt like an intruder in their house. Gemma and John treated her well, and Jackson and Thomas were fine, but she felt like a dead weight, mooching off her friends. She spent as much time as she could with Happy.

He came around every day checking up on her, and they would go out for lunch or ice cream, it was like their ritual. But he never kissed her, and she never kissed him. They were both waiting for the other to make the first move.

* * *

A week after she left the hospital when Maya decided to call her mother and brother. They should know, they were family. It was the right thing to do, Maya kept repeating to herself. It was the right thing to do.

She didn't use Gemma's phone but a payphone just outside the supermarket. She got one of those calling cards and just decided to get it over with. She followed the cashier's instructions and held her breath.

'Hello?' came her mother voice after the fifth ring.

'Ma? It's me, Maya,' she said, smiling despite herself.

'Maya? Yash, it's Maya!' her mother yelled towards her brother on the other side. 'Oh, Maya, how are you?'

'I'm –'for a second she was about to say fine, but that was a complete lie and she wanted them to know the truth. She wanted them to feel the pain she went through. 'Miserable.'

Maya told her everything. The beatings, the rapes, the cheating, the burning and the trip to the hospital. Shila just stayed quite until she was done.

'And what's happening now?' Shila asked.

'I filed for a divorce,' said Maya.

'What? Why?'

'Ma, he almost killed me.'

'But divorce isn't the answer, Maya!'

'Yes, it is! If not someone was going to die, and it definitely going to be me!'

'You cannot get divorced! What will the neighbours –?'

'I don't care about what everyone's going to say! He was beating me every day! He was raping me and he almost killed me! I have to think about myself first!'

'You're just being selfish,' said Shila, scoffing.

'I'm being selfish? _Me_? I'm not the one who forced my daughter to marry a complete stranger! I'm not the one taking his side over my own flesh and blood!'

'Oh, Maya, stop being such a drama queen,' said Yash, taking the phone.

'Fuck off, Yash,' snapped Maya. 'Give the phone back to Ma.'

'He's right,' said Shila. 'Every couple goes through this before finding a common ground. You must have angered him in some way.'

'Incredible, you're actually blaming me for this,' said Maya. 'I have a broken hand, a punctured lung, and scars that will never go away, but _noooo_, it's my fault!'

'You're father always indulged in you too much,' said Shila. 'I wanted to have a firmer hand in your upbringing, but he would never lay a hand on you.'

'Didn't stop you from hitting me,' Maya snapped.

'And you took those, why can't you take this?'

'Because it's not the same!' Maya cried out, gaining the attention of some people, but they continued on with what they were doing. 'It's not the same. He beats me. He _brutally_ beats me. Have you even been listening to me?'

'Yes, I still think you're being selfish. Divorce is not the answer to this. Do you even know what happens to divorce women here? Nothing good.'

'Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not coming back then,' said Maya.

'What? Where you going to go then? You have nobody to help you,' said Shila, shocked.

'I have friends, Ma. And I can do this myself. I don't need you,' said Maya. 'Actually, after this, I'm never going to call you again. You may be my mother, but only in name and blood. There might have been a time when you cared about me, but it's obvious that you don't anymore. I mean nothing to you and you mean nothing to me. Bye.'

Maya hung up the phone and walked to the nearest bench, crying as she fell apart. Her own family, her own mother, didn't care. The woman that gave birth to her, the woman that raised her, the woman that her father loved, blamed her. They might not have gotten along, but this really was over the line. She wished her father was here. He would understand, and, well, he would never have allowed her to get married to Zamir in the first place. Oh, how Maya's heart ached for Arjun. Shila, on the other hand, was poison, and Maya needed to get her out of her system.

* * *

A month later after that unfortunate phone call to her mother, Tim visited her again and told her the great news.

'Congratulations, you are now officially divorced from Zamir Rao.'

'He didn't show up?' Maya asked.

'No, nobody has been able to find him,' said Tim. 'I managed to swing the court your way and they agreed. Congrats.'

'Thank you,' said Maya, still a bit stunned. Tim gave her a smile and left Gemma's house.

Nobody else was there except for Jackson and Thomas, who was sleeping.

'That's good news, right?' asked Jackson, watching Maya closely. She didn't look sad, but she didn't look happy either. And he was six, so he really couldn't tell that much.

'It's – It's very good news,' said Maya, tearing up a bit before breaking into a smile. 'It's the best news ever, Jackson. Oh – I'm divorced!'

She picked up Jackson and swung him around in circles before setting him down and hugging him tightly while bouncing from side to side.

'Congratulations,' said Jackson, laughing and hugging her back.

Nothing brought her down today, not even Thomas's constant crying. She baked cookies with Jackson, completely messing up the kitchen. She played video games with him, losing every time, and she took him and Thomas out for ice cream.

'I thought this was our thing,' said a deep, hoarse voice behind her as she passed Jackson his chocolate ice cream.

'We're celebrating,' said Jackson happily, already with ice cream on his face.

'Yeah?' said Happy, getting his usual vanilla ice cream. 'What're you celebrating?'

'I'm officially divorced!' said Maya, smiling broadly. 'He never showed up in court and Tim got them to see it my way. Officially divorced!'

'That's good,' said Happy, smiling.

'Funny thing, isn't it?' said Maya. 'He never showed up. I wonder what happened to him.'

'Yeah, me too,' Happy said honestly.

'Did you kill him?' Maya whispered, making sure Jackson didn't hear them. He was too busy with his ice cream.

'No.'

'Are you sure?'

'Am I sure I killed someone? Yeah.'

'Nobody else found him?'

'No, they would have called us and I would have dealt with him personally.' Happy would have ripped that guy apart with a smile on his face.

Maya sighed. 'Okay.'

'He's not going to get to you, I'll make sure of it,' said Happy sincerely.

'Thank you,' said Maya, smiling while moving her ice cream around.

'Why do you do that?' asked Happy. 'You never just eat your ice cream; you just push it around until it melts.'

'I don't know,' said Maya, shrugging. 'Just something I picked up from my dad. I just, sort of, copied him.'

'You were close to your dad?'

'Very,' said Maya, smiling. 'He was the only one I loved.'

'What about your mom or your brother or sister?'

'Well, I hate my brother, the annoying pain in the ass, and, well, I hate my mother too, I guess.'

'You guess?'

'There used to be a time when I didn't hate her,' said Maya, thinking about it. 'But I can't remember. My dad was the only one I could really talk to. He understood me. My mom, not so much. It was mostly about gaining things, most materialistic things than love, and my brother went along with it.'

'I'm sorry,' said Happy.

'Don't be,' said Maya, waving it off. 'What about you?'

'My dad split when I was a baby, never saw him again. I'm close with my mom. She raised me by herself.'

'You never wanted to find out who he was?'

'He didn't want anything to do with me, why should I have anything to do with him? I'm not going to go search from someone who doesn't give a fu –'

'Happy,' Maya hissed, glancing over at Jackson, who was now paying attention to them. He also had a lot of ice cream all over his face.

Happy rolled his eyes.

'Jackson, come here,' said Maya, grabbing a napkin. 'You have ice cream all over your face.'

'Are you two going to get married or something?' Jackson asked as Maya wiped his face.

'What?' said Maya and Happy. Maya gave a nervous laugh.

'Well, that's what Ma said. You two are going to get married. Do I have to wear a suit or something?'

'Yes,' said Happy, and Maya was taken back.

'Really? What if I don't?' Jackson asked, well, more like challenged him.

'Then you can't come and you'll be left out of everything and never see us again,' said Happy. He winked at Maya. Jackson didn't see that. He just looked worried now.

'What? Maya, you wouldn't do that, right? You would still see me, right?'

'I afraid Happy's right,' said Maya gravelly. 'You will have to wear a suit.'

Jackson scowled at the pair of them before turning his backs to them. Happy and Maya laughed quietly.

'Anyway, we have to go,' said Maya, standing up and carrying Thomas carefully. 'Thank you.'

Happy nodded, smiling. 'Yeah, I'll see you later.'

'Okay, bye,' said Maya, taking a deep breath before leaning over and kissing him.

'Urgh,' said Jackson, sticking his tongue out and rolling his eyes.

'You know, there are some days when I wish you were Opie,' Maya told Jackson.

'There are some days when I wish you were Opie,' Jackson mimicked, making his voice incredibly high-pitched while he flapped his arms about.

'Shithead,' Maya mumbled, picking that up from Gemma. 'Just walk.'

She held on to Jackson's hand, though he resisted numerous times, and walked back to Gemma's house. Happy kept staring at her until she faded away.

* * *

The next couple months passed by in a blur for Maya. She got her cast off a week ago and her lung was fine. Her ribs were still healing, but better. The burns on her back were still there, but it didn't hurt anymore. The doctor said that it would be there mostly likely forever, unless she got some plastic surgery. She didn't want to. The skin looked as though it was plastic with the edges very dark, but it served as her reminder. A reminder of what she went through and how she survived.

She was still staying with the Tellers, but spent most of her time with Happy. They got to this place where they both knew they were in a relationship but didn't really have to say it out loud or talked to each other about it. It just sort of happened. Everybody knew. Gemma was the first one, since Jackson told on them, then Luann, John, Otto, and everybody else.

Of course, Happy got teased constantly by this, but ignored all of them. Jackson told the guys all about the ice cream and the 'supposed' wedding. Maya got teased to some extent but not a lot by Gemma and Luann. They did, however, want to know everything.

'So, how's the sex?' Luann asked one day while they were all sitting down and having some coffee and pie. 'I always wanted to know what Happy was like.'

'Really?' asked Gemma.

'Yeah, well, he's the strong silent type, but I bet he makes a lot of noise,' said Luann, smiling cheekily.

'We haven't had sex,' said Maya.

'What? Why?' asked Luann. 'Is he small?'

'No! Well, I don't know, but I doubt it,' said Maya, blushing.

'Did he make a move?' asked Gemma.

'Did _you_ make a move?' asked Luann.

'Did anybody do anything so _someone_ can have sex?'

'No,' said Maya, feeling slightly uncomfortable. 'And, besides, what's so great about sex?'

Gemma and Luann stared at her for a minute before laughing.

'I'm serious,' said Maya, a tad bit angry now. 'What's so great about sex?'

Gemma and Luann stopped laughing when they realized she _technically _never had sex before. She's been fucked by that bastard, but she's never had _sex_. She's still a virgin.

'Well, sex is…' Gemma began, trying to find the words to describe it. 'Sex is… amazing.'

'Glorious,' said Luann.

'Beautiful.'

'Yes, yes, I get that, but why?' Maya asked.

'Well, it's because of your guy,' said Gemma. 'It's all about who you have sex with. That's what makes it amazing, glorious and beautiful. It's all those touches, those kisses, and those –'

'Dirty talks,' said Luann, smiling ruefully. 'When he whispered into your ears about what he's going to do to you and how beautiful you are and –'

'It's also about how you move together and how fast or slow it is, and how much you lose your mind in his arms and how you can't think properly because all you care about is that moment,' said Gemma.

'It's also about the fact that nobody else in the world is ever going to make you feel like that again because he's the only one that can make you shiver in anticipation and make those little noises that drive him wild and crazy,' said Luann, licking her lips.

'And sometimes, it's when you create a kid together, and that's just fucking perfect,' said Gemma.

They both sighed a bit and had this faraway look on their faces. They were definitely thinking about John and Otto.

Luann was the first one to snap out of it. She got up and said she had something to do and left quickly. Not even five minutes later, John and Happy walked through the doors. Gemma quickly pulled him upstairs, saying they had something important to talk about. Maya can't remember rolling her eyes so many times before this.

Happy looked slightly confused, but perked up when he saw Maya. 'Ice cream?'

Maya looked at him for a minute. 'Do you want to have sex?'

She wanted to laugh at his face, but held it in for the sake of it all.

'What?' he asked. 'Here? Now?'

'Well, not here,' said Maya. 'Gemma and Jon are having sex now.'

'But now?' he said.

'Yeah, sure,' said Maya, shrugging.

Happy continued to look at her before breaking out in a smile. He walked over to her and kissed her deeply.

'I'm taking that as a yes,' Maya said, laughing as Happy kissed her jaws and neck. His actions were the answers to her question. They both stalled when they heard noises coming from upstairs. One of the furniture was moving and some strange, weird noise was coming from upstairs.

'Come on, let's go,' said Happy, getting out of the house.

'Is that all it takes? I just have to ask and we have sex?' Maya asked as he passed her a helmet.

'Yeah, sure,' said Happy, a bit in a hurry. 'Can you please get on?'

'And if I don't?' asked Maya teasingly, wanting to see his reaction.

'Then I will take you in front of their house, right now,' said Happy, smiling.

It was his voice. It was always his voice. It was his deep voice and the conviction that Maya fell in love with. It was the truth behind it and the lust she saw in him. She kissed him before getting on the bike.

* * *

_Holy Sweet Jesus._

* * *

Maya learned some things from Happy. No, not anything to do with sex, she learned that from Gemma and Luann.

No, she learned how to drive a car and a bike. She did well with the car, but was terrified of the bike. She'd rather he do that. After her many failed attempts, Happy agreed too. She also learned how to defend herself and how to use a gun. She thought it was incredibly sexy when he did that. He showed her how to aim, how to dislocate a shoulder and how to sprain someone's arm and break it. Maya doubted whether she was able to break someone's arm, but she could still punch and shoot a gun.

He also got one for her two months after they, well, canoodled. She was slightly embarrassed to talk about it, not like Gemma or Luann. She loved it, but her cheeks kept getting hot and she would just keep smiling like a little goof ball, so Jackson kept telling her.

Anyway, back to the topic in hand. Happy gave her a gun, her very own gun. A pistol handgun for safety. Zamir was still out there and nobody has found or saw him. He wanted her to be safe. They, of course, had sex after this.

Zamir may have disappeared, but he apparently didn't take his girlfriend with him.

Maya was still staying with the Tellers, but spent most of her nights with Happy. She made dinner every Monday and Thursday, it was sort of a rule. She decided to make them Indian food today. Butter chicken, tandoori chicken and naan; her favorite dishes. Since she didn't have a car or any means of transportation, she walked all the way to the supermarket; only to find out they didn't have any chili powder and had to walk another couple blocks to the store that did.

Tired of carrying three heavy bags, Maya didn't notice that someone was following her. It was only when she reached the house and heard the doorbell, did that person reveal herself to Maya.

It was another Indian lady. She was tall with long black hair that had red highlights. Her eyes bore into Maya as she asked who she was and what was she going here.

'I'm looking for Zamir,' the woman said. Maya recognized that voice, but couldn't remember.

'I don't know where he is, and I honestly don't care,' said Maya, about to close the door when the woman stuck her foot out.

'Oh, I think you very well know where he is,' she said, sounding furious.

'Listen, I –'

'I'm Karen,' she said. 'And I know who you are.'

'Great,' said Maya, faking enthusiasm. 'Now leave.'

'Where is he?' said Karen, not leaving.

'Don't know, don't care.' Maya learned most of her sass from either Gemma or Jackson.

'Yes, you do!' shouted Karen. 'Where is he?'

'I don't know,' said Maya calmly. 'Now, please leave.'

'No,' said Karen, walking into the house. 'So, you fucking the guy that lives here?'

'Oh, how hypocritical,' snapped Maya, folding her arms. 'You're judging me when you've been fucking my ex-husband for how many months now?'

'I didn't know he was married,' Karen sneered. 'Obviously.'

'Listen, just get out,' said Maya, holding the door. 'I don't know where he is and I honestly don't care.'

Karen walked towards the door, about to leave when Maya whispered, 'Whore.'

'Excuse me!' shrieked Karen, turning around, looking furious.

'You heard me,' said Maya, smirking a bit.

Karen tried to slap her, but Maya ducked out of the way and she got the door instead.

'Bitch!' Karen cried out, holding her right hand. But she wasn't done with Maya. Karen knew Maya did something to Zamir. He loved her; he wouldn't just leave her like that. Maya obviously killed him. She needed to get revenge for Zamir.

Karen charged towards Maya, ready to lay down the first punch. Maya ducked out of the way the first time, but wasn't as lucky the second. Karen hit her on her right temple. Pain shot through Maya while Karen kept hitting her. Maya fought back, trying to regain control of – whatever this was.

She tried hitting back, but Karen hit just as hard and just as fast. Maya managed to kick her in the legs and push her away. She reached for her purse, but Karen grabbed hold of her ankle and tried to pull her back. Maya kicked her in the face with her free one and grabbed her purse, grabbing the first thing she could.

Karen gave a grunt and made her way towards Maya with her hands stretched out to choke her. Maya got her gun out and fired twice, hitting Karen's forehead. Blood splattered everywhere, hitting the wall and Maya.

She lowered the gun, staring at what she did.

'Holy fucking shit,' Maya whispered, still staring at Karen. 'Shit fucking – Shit. Fuck. Fuck!'

She killed someone. She actually killed another human being. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. No, no, no, no, no! FUCK! _

Walking over to the kitchen sink quickly, Maya threw up the contents in her stomach. Once she wiped – scrubbed, really – her mouth and the blood on her face, she called Happy. She called him a couple times, but he didn't answer. She then called Gemma, who picked up on the second ring.

'Hey, what's up?'

'Where's Happy?' Maya asked urgently.

'Club meeting. Why?'

'I killed someone.'

Silence.

'Gemma?'

'You killed someone?' Gemma said calmly.

'Yes.'

'At our house.'

'It's not like I planned it.'

'Jesus Christ,' Gemma sighed. 'I'll get the guys. Just stay there and – try not to kill anybody else.'

Maya waited for barely ten minutes before she heard the roar of motorcycles outside the house. She immediately opened the door and ran towards Happy, hugging him tightly. Gemma, John, Lenny, Clay and Tig went inside the house.

'What happened?' Happy asked, holding on to her with equal force.

'She came into the house and attacked me,' Maya mumbled. 'I tried to get her to leave but she wouldn't listen to me.'

'Jesus Christ!' yelled Gemma. 'There's blood everywhere!'

'Damn, you killed her with two bullets,' said Lenny, exiting the house and smiling at Maya. 'Way to go, Maya.'

'Tough old lady you got there, Hap,' said Clay, thumping Happy's back.

'I'm your old lady?' asked Maya, moving her head back a bit so that she could see his face.

'Yeah,' said Happy, shrugging.

Maya smiled before kissing him. Lenny, Clay and Tig wolf-whistled before Happy flipped them off.

'That's great and all,' said Gemma, looking pissed. 'But if you all have forgotten, we have a dead person in my house!'

John took care of that. He called down Piney. He got Prospects to do most of the work while Piney made sure they didn't screw up. Once that was done, the Prospects came and cleaned up all the blood, scrubbing every inch of the surface while Gemma made sure that the smell was gone.

John and Piney then decided to sit Maya down and tell her all the dangers of killing someone like that and how it was apparently fine the first time but made her promise she wouldn't do it again. She was definitely never going to kill another person, this was just self defense. They agreed wither her, but still made her promise.

Maya decided that it was time for her to move out of the Tellers. She felt extremely bad that she killed Karen in their living room and splattering blood everywhere. Gemma was certainly not happy about that.

'Where you going then?' asked Gemma.

'Clubhouse for a while until I can find a place for myself,' said Maya. 'I asked Lenny if I could.'

'You gonna find one with Happy?'

'I don't know, maybe,' said Maya, shrugging. 'Haven't talked about it yet.'

'I hope you know what you're doing,' said Gemma. 'I liked having you in my house, well except for you killing people, of course.'

'Sure,' said Maya.

She packed up what little things she had and thanked the Tellers. She promised Jackson that she would still be able to see him all the time, but she wasn't going to live with him anymore. He didn't like it, but still hugged her tightly.

Happy told her that he would take her to the clubhouse, but they didn't end up there. They ended up in front of his house.

'What are we doing here?' asked Maya. 'Aren't we going to the clubhouse?'

'You're not staying there,' said Happy, snorting. 'Every room is pretty much filled with cum.'

'Like yours?' asked Maya, biting her lips.

Happy shot her a looked and said, 'And you already stay here most night, might as well just move in.'

He took out a spare key from his pocket and held it out towards her.

'Are you sure?' asked Maya, astonished as she took the key from him.

'Yes,' said Happy.

Maya kissed him again. She likes kissing him, and he liked it too. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her into the house and into the bedroom.

* * *

Living with Happy was certainly interesting. She could do whatever she wanted, but he hated mess. She hated mess too, but he really was a neat freak. They had an argument about it, but in the end they just had sex on the kitchen floor.

It was a while after they moved in together and Happy wanted her to meet his mother. Maya was terrified, but very happy that he suggested it.

Emilia was wonderful and had an amazing sense of humor. She hugged Maya the moment she saw her and gave her a warm smile. Emilia had many stories to tell Maya, all with Happy in embarrassing situations. After the fifth story, he stopped trying to get her to shut up. When they left, Emilia gave her a tupperware of brownies and fresh chocolate chip cookies.

Emilia was the mother she always wanted and never got. She made a mental note to always visit her in Bakersfield.

* * *

It was a week after visiting Emilia when Happy proposed to her. It wasn't very romantic. They just got up from bed and he asked her. Plain, simple and straight to the point. Maya was midway from putting her shirt on when it happened and Happy just buckled his belt up. Stunned, Maya didn't do anything for a minute.

'Maya?' asked Happy, nudging her a bit.

'You want to get married?' Maya whispered.

Happy nodded.

'To me?'

'Yes, generally it takes two to get married,' said Happy, smiling.

'But to me?'

'What's wrong with you?'

'Come on, Happy, it's me. You know all the shit I've been thro –'

'And there's nothing wrong with you,' said Happy, sighing. 'I do love you, you know.'

Well, isn't this day full of pleasant surprises.

'What?' said Maya, even more shocked than before.

'I love you,' said Happy, shrugging. 'And I want to marry you.'

Maya blinked a couple time, her mind was still registering his first question, and now this?

'Don't answer me yet,' said Happy, putting the rest of his clothes on. 'I'll be home later. Tell me then.'

He gave her a quick kiss before heading to TM.

Freaking out, Maya quickly called Luann.

'Hello?' said Luann in a very sing-song type of voice.

'Hey, how are you?' asked Maya, not wanting to make it all about herself.

'Fine,' said Luann. 'Neighbourhood boys left a couple pictures in my mailbox, but nothing out of the ordinary. What about you?'

'Oh, you know, everything's fine, except for the tiny detail that Happy wants to marry me,' said Maya, rushing the whole sentence.

'Wait, hold up,' said Luann. 'Happy wants to marry you?'

'Yup,' said Maya, popping the 'p'.

'I'm coming right over,' said Luann before putting the phone down.

Maya put down the phone and got dressed quickly. Soon enough, Luann entered the house, closely followed by Gemma. Maya kind of expected that, really.

'So, tell us everything,' said Gemma as though this was some matter of grave importance. Though it was very important, it wasn't bad like she made it sound.

'Happy wants to marry me,' said Maya slowly.

'And…' prompted Luann.

'And he said he loves me,' said Maya.

'That's it?' asked Gemma.

'Yeah.'

'I see the problem,' said Gemma. 'We have to find out why he loves you.'

'What?'

'Isn't that why we're here? To find out why Happy loves you?' asked Gemma sarcastically.

'No –'

'Oh, she probably thinks she's unworthy of being loved,' said Luann, snapping her fingers.

'That's –'

'Or she thinks that nobody wants a broken pussy,' said Gemma.

'But that's not true, considering they've definitely fucked for a year now,' said Luann.

'Did you both just come here to do this?' asked Maya, deadpanned.

'Pretty much, yeah,' said Luann, smiling.

'Do you love him?' asked Gemma.

'Well, yeah, I guess –'

'You guess?'

'Okay, I do, I really do.'

'Do you want to marry him?'

'Well, it would be nice, I suppose –'

'Same thing as guess,' said Luann.

'You're already living together,' said Gemma, shrugging. 'This just seals the deal.'

'Being married doesn't change anything?' asked Maya.

'Of course it does,' said Gemma, rolling her eyes. 'Being married means everything. You're his and he's yours. You're bonded for life and all that shit.'

'You love him and he loves you,' said Luann, shrugging. 'Just get married already. We all think you're married.'

'Tig was shocked when he didn't see a crow tattoo on you,' said Gemma. 'You should get Happy to make one for you.'

'Okay,' said Maya absentmindedly nodding.

Gemma and Luann looked at each other for a moment before getting up.

'Where you going?' asked Maya. 'That's it?'

'Our work here is done,' said Gemma. 'I've got to go pick Jax and Thomas up from John before he goes on his run.'

'And I've got work,' said Luann.

'Happy's not going on the run, is he?' asked Maya.

'No, I don't think so,' said Gemma, shaking her head. She hugged Maya and kissed her cheek. 'Don't fuck this up.'

'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' Maya muttered.

'No problem, sweetheart,' said Gemma, smirking before leaving the house.

'You should really say yes,' said Luann sincerely. 'You make him happy and he's happy when you're around.'

Maya laughed a bit at the amount of 'happy' in that sentence.

'When did you know?' asked Maya. 'When did you know you wanted to marry Otto?'

'When he promised me that he'd get me out of the cock sucking business and behind the camera instead,' said Luann, smiling. 'I wanted to direct instead of being the one doing all the dirty work. He understood that and promised me. Nobody else ever did, except him. That's when I knew I loved him and wanted to be his old lady.'

Maya smiled as Luann got into her car and drove off to work.

Pacing the living room, Maya realised that she was stupid for even thinking about any other answer. It was yes, the answer has always yes. Not wanting to wait anymore, Maya put on her shoes and quickly left the house, jogging all the way to TM.

Entering the clubhouse, Maya was well out of breath. They first person she saw was Piney, who was sitting with Bobby at the bar looking over some book.

'Hey, is Happy here?' she asked, breathing heavily, while clutching the right side of her ribs.

'He's in the garage with Lenny and Tig,' said Bobby, pointing over at the door. 'They're –'

'Thanks!' said Maya, running out again and into the garage.

Happy was looking over his bike while Lenny and Tig were fixing a really beat up looking car. Happy looked up when she was a couple feet away from him.

'Hey,' said Maya, still out of breath. 'Sorry – just, just ran the whole way here –'

'Are you okay?' he asked, holding her up while she leaned on his a bit.

'Yeah, I'm – I'm fine,' said Maya, smiling. 'Yes.'

'Yes what?'

Maya rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I'll marry you.'

'You sure?' he asked.

'Definitely.'

Happy raised his eyebrows in surprise before smiling in a very smug, cocky way. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.

'Come on, not in front of the children!' cried Lenny, covering Tig's eyes, who was faking disgust.

'Fuck off!' said Maya and Happy, laughing.

'Should we tell them?' Happy whispered in her ears.

'Might as well,' said Maya, picking the loose thread on his shirt. 'They're going to figure it out soon. I told Gemma and Luann.'

'Of course you did,' said Happy, kissing her again.

'But I'm telling Piney first,' said Maya.

'We can just tell them at the same time,' said Happy.

'Are you two done being disgusting?' asked Tig as he and Lenny stood beside them. 'It's really making me want to barf.'

'Fuck off, Tiggy,' said Maya. 'I'm going to tell Piney,' she told Happy, kissing him before walking into the clubhouse.

'Tell Piney what?' Lenny asked, but Happy just shook his head and followed her.

'Tell Piney what?' Lenny kept asking, following them. 'Tell Piney what?' Lenny asked Maya as she was about to tell Piney.

'Me and Happy are going to get married,' she said simply.

Lenny, Tig, Piney and Bobby just stared at her for a moment before staring at Happy.

'Holy shit,' said Tig, scratching his jaw. 'Married?'

'Yup,' said Happy.

'The two of you?' asked Bobby.

'_Yes_,' said Happy, stressing out that word.

'Are you sure?' Piney asked Maya.

'Yeah, you could do a whole lot better than Happy,' said Lenny.

'No, she can't!' said Happy.

'I can't?' asked Maya, raising her right eyebrow at him.

'That's not what I meant,' said Happy quickly.

'What did you mean?' asked Tig, crossing his arms.

'Yeah, what did you mean?' asked Maya.

'Fuck off, all of you,' said Happy before walking walked to the back.

Tig was the first one to laugh, followed by Maya, then Piney, Lenny and Bobby. Maya followed him, feeling slightly bad. She found him in one of the smaller rooms. He was holding one of those tattoo needles in his hand, looked up at her when she entered.

'What're you doing?' Maya asked.

'We need to get a crow on you,' said Happy, sitting on a chair close to the bed. 'Need to show that's your mine and we're going to get married.'

'Aw, you're still mad,' whispered Maya, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.

'It happened five minutes ago, of course I'm mad,' said Happy.

'Don't worry, I wouldn't pick anyone of the guys.'

'I'm still putting a crow on you.'

'Fine,' grumbled Maya, sitting on the bed.

'Where do you want it?'

'On my wrist,' said Maya, holding out her right wrist. 'Might as well be a place where everyone can see it.'

Happy smirked before getting to work, not speaking the whole time.

After two hours of complete silence, it was finally done. It was an outline of a crow with Happy's name in it.

'It's beautiful,' said Maya as Happy wrapped her wrist up in a bandage. 'Are you going to get for me?'

'Already did,' said Happy, smirking again.

'What? Where?'

Happy took off his shirt and showed her the tattoo on the left side on his collarbone, the closest to his heart without overlapping with his other tattoos. It was her name in cursive.

'Wow, you must really love me,' Maya chuckled, tracing her name. 'You didn't have to take your shirt off to show me, could have just pulled your shirt down.'

Happy sniggered before kissing her. They had sex on the bed, only to be found by Tig halfway.

'Oh shit, sorry,' he said, not moving and not taking his eyes away.

'Get out!' said Happy, throwing a pillow at him. Tig ducked out of the way and left the room. He opened the door and said, 'Nice ass, Maya.' He avoided another pillow.

Happy flipped them over and said, 'He's right, you do have a nice ass.'

'I know,' said Maya, kissing him.

'And nice tits.'

'They are amazing, I'm quite aware of that.'

Once they were done, they went back to the bar, and this time everyone was there. They all shouted congratulations and passed around glasses of alcohol for everyone. It was then when she asked if Gemma could throw together a wedding in two weeks. She freaked out at the request.

'Two weeks?!'

* * *

In those two weeks, Gemma kept complaining that it wasn't enough time and how it wasn't going to go as plan, and how this and that couldn't happen. Maya honestly didn't care, and neither did Happy. But, of course, Gemma pulled it off. The only thing Maya had to do was pick out the dress. She just went with a white summer dress and small heels. It was her wedding, she wanted to be comfortable.

The day of the wedding came and Gemma was running all over the place making sure everything went alright. Surprising enough, Jackson was actually wearing a suit, and was mad when no one else was. Opie kept laughing at him.

'You said everyone was going to wear a suit!' Jackson accused Maya.

'_No_, we said _you_ had to wear a suit, not everybody else,' said Maya, laughing. 'And you look very cute.'

'Of course I look cute,' said Jackson. 'I'm the only one here that does.'

Piney just rolled his eyes before pushing him out of the room.

'Are you sure about this?' he asked Maya. 'Getting married and all?'

'This is the surest thing I have ever done in my life,' said Maya, taking a deep breath. 'And I'm doing this for myself because I'm happy, not for anybody. I'm definitely sure.'

Piney smiled. 'Well then, let's get you married.'

He stuck his arm out and they made their way down the small aisle. There were a whole lot of people there to witness Happy actually getting married to a chick. Not that many people believed it when Gemma called them up. There were many claps and wolf-whistles as Maya made her way towards Happy, but she just rolled her eyes and smiled at Happy, who paid no attention to them. He was wearing a long sleeve white shirt under his cut with a flower on the right breast pocket.

Piney kissed her on the cheek before cuffing Happy's shoulders.

'Brothers and sisters,' the pastor began, 'we come together today under the all-seeing eye of nature to witness the blessed joining of Happy and Maya. I would now like to share with you a passage from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desire: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song pf praise on your lips.'

'You go the ring?' Happy asked John.

John searched his pockets, looking as though he lost it before smiling and handing over the ring to Happy. Gemma shook her head and laughed. Maya went first.

'With this ring, I vow my love. I promise to always be faithful and a loving wife and old lady.'

Happy's turn.

'With this ring, I vow my love and I promise to always cherish and protect you.'

'And?' prompted John, smiling. Maya looked confused. Happy looked irritated at him and wondered why he asked John to be up there with him.

'And treat you as good as my leather…' he paused while everybody joined in. 'And ride you as much as my Harley!'

Everybody hollered and cheered as the pastor declared them husband and wife and told Happy to 'Have at it.'

* * *

'I still can't believe you're married,' said Tig.

'I know, you've told me this already,' said Happy, rubbing his forehead.

'I mean, _you_,' Tig continued. 'You're married.'

'I know.'

'And to Maya,' said Tig. 'I mean, what's a hot piece of ass doing with you?'

'Fuck off,' said Happy. 'Don't you have some guy's dick to suck?'

'Aww, you want me to suck your dick.'

'No way in hell you're coming that close to me,' said Happy.

'Who's sucking whose dick?' Clay asked, joining them.

'Happy wants me to suck his dick,' said Tig.

'Seriously Hap,' said Clay. 'Married for an hour and asking Tig to do it instead. For shame.'

'Go fuck yourselves,' said Happy, getting up and walking towards the dance floor where Maya was dancing with Jackson and Opie.

'My turn,' said Happy, stealing Maya for himself. 'Nice suit, Jax.'

Jackson just scowled at him while Opie laughed at him again.

'Go easy on him,' said Maya, laughing. 'He's still mad at us.'

'He'll get over it,' said Happy, kissing her neck.

'Really, Happy? On the dance floor?'

'Tig thinks I want him to suck my dick.'

'Really? You could do so much better than Tig. Lenny, maybe, or even Wally.'

'Oh, shut up,' said Happy, kissing her.

'Jeez, not on the dance floor,' said John, walking towards them. 'My turn.'

Happy reluctantly let go of Maya as she danced with John. He made his way over to the table where his mother was.

'Oh, I'm so proud of you,' she said immediately. 'Maya's such a nice girl.'

'Thanks, Ma,' said Happy.

'But did you really have to say that you were going to ride her like a Harley? I really did not need to hear that.'

'Had to be done, Ma.'

'Still,' she muttered. It was only when Happy drank something when she asked, 'So, when I am going to get a grandkid?'

Happy swallowed his beer. 'I don't know.'

'So there might be one.'

'I don't know. We never talked about it. She's been through a lot and I don't know if she wants kids or not after that.'

'Well, you know, I'm getting old, and it's not like I ask very much from you, sweetheart,' Emilia said, sighing in sadness. 'I would just like to hold one before I leave this cruel, cruel world.'

'You're not going to die, Ma,' said Happy, feeling slightly guilty and irritated.

'But I will one day,' Emilia continued. 'Probably of heartbreak, since I won't hold my own grandchildren in my arms.'

'Jeez, Ma,' said Happy, rubbing the back of his neck.

'I'm sorry, baby,' said Emilia, standing up and kissing his cheek. 'I have to go now. The sun's setting and I rather not drive back in the dark.'

'Do you want me to drop you off?'

'No, go and enjoy your time with your wife. Give her my best wishes. And give me some grandkids. Or one at least.'

And Emilia walked off while Happy finished his beer. He got up and cut in while Maya was dancing with Tig.

'Having fun, Mrs. Lowman?' he said.

'Oh yeah, loads. Tig was just telling me about how you begged him and he did the noble things by saying no to your request.'

'Don't listen to him.'

'I barely was.'

'Ma went back home.'

'She must be tired.'

'She wants grandkids.'

Maya studied him for a moment. 'Is this your way of saying _you _want kids?'

'Do you want kids?'

'Do you?'

'I asked you first.'

'Actually I did.'

'Maya.'

'Happy.'

They just looked at each other until Happy relented and said, 'Maybe one wouldn't be _too_ bad.'

'There's no rush,' said Maya. 'If it happens it happens.'

'Sounds good.'

'We could still practice.'

Happy just smiled and pulled her towards his bike, ignoring all the cat calls from the guys.

Maya thought about it before, having a kid with Happy. She really didn't want a kid, but having one with Happy was completely different. It was Happy. It would be a kid that was a combination of the two of them. That's what made her change her mind on having kids.

* * *

Nothing was different after they got married. It was the same deal, except she knew more about the club than before and Happy would occasionally send a Prospect over to keep an eye on her.

Maya found out she was pregnant six months after the wedding. She missed her periods, though she did not notice it at first. She's been vomiting a couple times in the morning. Happy just thought she had the stomach flu or something like that, but Maya suspected otherwise.

She went to the doctors that day, driving after finally getting her licence. She waited for at least two hours when the doctor finally confirmed what she thought all along. She was pregnant, and has been for about five weeks now.

Once Maya confirmed she was actually pregnant, Dr. Lewyton made the appointment in two weeks' time for a checkup and Maya was out the door.

Shocked that they managed to get pregnant, Maya drove back to the house missing a lot of turns and running some red lights. Unser picked her up after running her third red light.

'Running a red light is no big deal, Maya, but not after I already gave you two warnings,' Unser said, sitting her down on the bench until someone came and picked her up. 'Everything okay?'

'Um, yeah, everything's fine,' said Maya.

'What yeah got there?' he said, nodding to the piece of paper Maya was now clutching.

'I'm pregnant,' said Maya. 'I'm actually pregnant.'

'And this was a surprise?'

'Yes – well, no, not that much,' said Maya. 'We talked about having one, but – but –'

'Actually finding out you're going to have one of those is still surprising,' Unser finished.

'Yeah,' said Maya.

'Well, it's a little scary at first, but you'll get over it.'

'I'm having a kid,' said Maya. 'I can't just _get over it_.'

'You're having a kid?' Luann asked shocked as she walked into the station.

'Yeah,' Maya mumbled.

'Congratulations!' said Luann, hugging her. 'I'm so happy for you!'

'Thanks, now I just have to tell Happy,' said Maya.

'Come on, let's get you home,' said Luann.

'What about my car?'

'You mean that piece of shit metal? I'll ask one of the Prospects to bring it over.'

Maya rolled her eyes. It might be a piece of shit car, but it's her piece of shit car. Happy wasn't very happy with her decision in a car when she got her license, but didn't say anything when she confessed her love for it. It was a really old red ford truck, but it still worked and made Maya smile when she got it, using the money she earned at her job in the supermarket.

Knowing she would have to tell Happy sooner or later, Maya prepared some dinner. Steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. She expected him to come home soon and she was really, really nervous.

Happy came home and greeted Maya with a kiss.

'How was your day?' he asked, sitting down and starting on his steak.

'It was fine,' said Maya. 'Went to the hospital today. Found out I'm pregnant.'

There was literally no point in beating around the bush. No reason what so ever.

Happy stopped cutting his steak half way and looked up at Maya. He blinked a couple times before saying, 'Are you sure?'

'Positive,' said Maya, taking a deep breath.

Happy broke out into a smile before actually sweeping her in his arms and walking towards the bedroom.

* * *

Having a baby was freaky for Maya. She remembers her relationship with her own mother very clearly, and the relationship between her mother and brother. What if it was a girl? Would it be the same? Would the constantly bicker and eventually hate each other? Or what if it was a boy? Would she mother him to no end and never let him go? These thoughts never left her mind. Maya was determined to never be the type of mother that hers was.

* * *

The next couple months went by in a blur for Maya. She loved half or it, but hated the other half. Morning sickness was a real pain and her breasts were very tender every time Happy touched them. Some of her clothes 'shrank' and she couldn't even _smell_ her favorite food without throwing up.

It also didn't help when Happy became extra protective of her; either it was him or one of the Prospects that kept her company all day. She liked the Prospects (they weren't Mark), but she could handle it by herself and didn't need to be babysat by them.

She kept telling him this, but he kept saying that he just wanted her to be safe. They fought for a while before Maya just shouted 'Fine!' and left the room.

It was only half way through her second trimester when she started to show. That's when they told everyone.

'Pregnant?' Lenny asked. 'Like you're actually pregnant?'

'With a kid?' said Wally.

'Yes, that's what it means,' said Maya, chuckling.

'How long?' Gemma asked.

'Half way through my second trimester,' said Maya.

'And you didn't tell me?'

'I thought Luann told you.'

Gemma rounded off on Luann, who just shrugged and said, 'It wasn't my secret to tell.'

'Out of all the things not to tell me, you choose this?'

'That's not important,' said Tig. 'What's important is that I won the bet.'

'What bet?' Maya asked.

'I said that you would get pregnant in six months. Piney, Bobby and Tom said three. Clay, John, Lenny, and Tom said a year and Otto said never,' said Tig. 'So I win! Ha! Cough up all your money!'

Grumbling, the guys took out their wallets and handed over Tig's winnings.

'Bet it's a boy,' said John, not letting go of his money as Tig kept tugging on it.

'It's a girl,' said Piney.

'Are you kidding me? Definitely a boy,' said Clay.

'In your dreams, it's a girl,' said Tig.

Shocked that they were all betting on the gender of her kid, Maya watched silently as Bobby wrote down that John, Clay, Otto, Lenny, Bobby, Tom and Wally said it was a boy, while Tig and Piney said it was a girl.

'Or it could be both,' said Piney, pausing for a moment. 'Put me down for both. The way those two go at each other…'

Never mind, Tig was the only one thinking it was going to be just one girl.

Maya went back to the hospital to make sure it wasn't twins. She didn't tell Piney that it wasn't though. Might as well break his spirits on that day.

After telling Emilia, she agreed with Tig saying that it was definitely a girl.

Telling Jackson and Opie was a little different. They didn't understand how a baby was going to come out of Maya and Gemma had to tell them the whole process with explicate details. Jackson almost threw up. Opie seemed okay with it, saying that it was still family, even of it turned out to be an alien, though Jackson said it was a boy.

Thomas didn't understand anything but just smiled anyway.

Maya and Happy decided that they didn't want to know the gender. Well, they really had no choice since everyone didn't want to know until it happened. Maya just really wanted it to be a surprise when the kid came out. Happy just agreed with her.

The one really good thing about being pregnant was the amount of sex they were having. Nobody complained about that.

* * *

_July 7, 1986_

* * *

Maya was making a late breakfast when her water broke. It was at least a few weeks early, but she had a bag prepared just in case of an emergency. She felt pain the night before, but didn't think much of it. She called Leon, the Prospect, and told him to get the bag from the closet and to not call Happy.

Leon did not help in easing her worries. He kept freaking out and was driving frantically to the hospital. They actually managed to get there without hitting a car. She congratulated him.

She managed to get a room, but nothing happened after that. She kept pacing the room, despite Leon's objections and constantly asking her to call Happy.

It was three hours later when she started to feel real pain. The contractions became worse, making her knees buckle. Leon freaked out when Maya let out an agonizing scream and called Happy.

He was certainly not his name when he came to the hospital with the guys. He was beyond pissed that she didn't call him, but didn't say anything to her. Nah, he just yelled and punched Leon. He needed to get his frustrations out somehow.

* * *

'You're almost there, Mrs. Lowman,' said the doctor. 'Just one more push.'

'No,' moaned Maya, sweating and shaking her head. 'I can't –'

'Yes you can. One more push,' commanded the doctor. 'Come on now. On my count. One… two…'

'Three!' yelled Maya, giving her last push.

Happy was watching her silently the whole time, holding her hand. Six hours of labour didn't look good. Definitely didn't look good. They guys walked in once. Tig vowed to never lick another pussy again.

Six hours and they finally heard the kid's screaming voice.

'Congratulations!' said the doctor, holding the baby up for them to see. 'It's a girl!'

'A girl?' Maya whispered tears forming on the corners of her eyes. 'We have a girl?'

'You did good,' said Happy, kissing her forehead.

'We have a girl,' Maya said softly.

'I know,' said Happy, smiling at the look of joy on her face.

The doctor cleaned her, wrapped her and handed her to Maya, who had her arm stretched out. Once the doctor showed her how to support the head, she left the family alone.

'Holy shit,' Happy said quietly, lightly touching the baby's head.

'I know,' said Maya. 'What do you want to name her?'

Happy's looked up a couple names. Well, he actually told the Prospect to do it and to just give him a list of names that sounded good. He told the Prospect to get Indian names, it would make Maya happy. There was one on the list that stood out.

'Ayesha,' said Happy. 'Ayesha Lowman.'

'Ayesha?' said Maya, laughing quietly. 'That sounds more Indian than my name.'

'It's a nice name,' said Happy. 'It means 'doll' and 'daughter of the prophet'. Whatever you prefer.'

'Quite nice,' said Maya, thinking about it. 'Ayesha Emilia Lowman. I like it.'

'You wanna name her after my Ma?' asked Happy.

'It's nice,' said Maya, shrugging. 'It's is, Ayesha?'

The kid didn't say anything, of course. She was just sleeping, not caring about anything else in the world.

'She was just screaming a minute ago,' said Maya, chuckling.

'Okay, it's my turn,' said Happy, 'Come on, give her to me.'

Slowly, and very carefully, Maya reluctantly gave her to Happy and made sure that the head was supported.

'Careful,' said Maya.

'I know, I know,' said Happy, not looking at her, but at Ayesha.

'Still shocking, isn't it?'

'It's freaky,' said Happy. 'Never thought it was really going to happen. Just thought you were going to be pregnant for the rest of your life.'

'Thank god that never happened,' said Maya, yawning.

'Get some sleep, I'll be back,' said Happy, kissing Maya's forehead.

Once Maya dozed off, Happy gently kicked the door open and walked to the waiting room area, where everybody's head snapped up when they heard his footsteps.

'It's a girl,' Happy said simply.

'Yes!' said Tig, throwing his arms in the air.

'Shut up!' hissed Gemma, hitting his arm. 'You'll wake the kid.'

Thankfully Ayesha didn't cry, but she did open her eyes and her nose was scrunched up in displeasure.

'Aw, she's got your eyes,' said Luann, putting her hands to her face with an adoring smile.

'Let's hope she doesn't look like him,' said Clay, laughing.

'Shut up,' said Happy.

'Come on, this is a big day,' said John. 'It's the first girl for anybody.'

'Wait a minute, I have two girls,' said Tig, looking insulted.

Everybody just looked at each other, grimacing. Fawn and Dawn were a little crazy. They lived with Colleen, so they didn't have to see them too much.

'Yeah, I know,' said Tig, noticing everybody's looks and he also knew that they were just a _tiny _bit crazy.

'Anyways, what's her name?' asked John.

'Ayesha Emilia Lowman,' said Happy proudly.

'Ayesha,' said Gemma, rolling the name around in her tongue. 'It's nice.'

Thomas was tugging on John's legs, trying to get his attention. Jackson and Opie were sleeping on the chairs, too tired to do anything else. John smiled at his kid and picked him up. Thomas was holding a blue SAMCRO beanie, he really thought it was going to be a boy. Reaching over, Thomas put the hat on Ayesha. It wasn't pink, but he knew Maya and Happy didn't like that colour. Blue was a fine colour.

'Pe-ttie,' said Thomas, clapping his hands together.

John could practically see the wheels turning in Gemma's head at this.

'Okay, come one, give her over,' said Piney, reaching out for the kid.

She barely made any noise as Happy unenthusiastically handed his kid over. She just stared up at Piney before closing her eyes again. Piney, smiling widely, kicking Opie and Jackson, waking them up.

'Did we miss it?' said Jackson, waking up and looking around.

'You missed the whole thing,' said Bobby.

'I told you we shouldn't have slept,' said Opie, hitting Jax.

'I was tired!' Jax defended himself.

'Stop shouting, you'll wake her up,' said Gemma.

'Her?' said Jackson. 'It's a girl? Why?'

'Came out like that,' said Tom.

Piney sat down and Jackson and Opie looked over his shoulders.

'It's a girl,' Jackson said, frowning.

'Good catch,' said Piney, snorting.

'It's a girl,' Jackson repeated.

'You said that already,' said Opie.

'It's supposed to be a boy,' said Jackson.

'It's family,' said Opie.

'It has a name,' said Piney, rolling his eyes. 'Ayesha.'

'Yeah, yeah, my turn,' said Otto, reaching over for her.

One by one, each one of the members held her, and made comments. Gemma and Luann made the usual 'look how cute she is!' comment while they guys prayed that she looked nothing like Happy.

'She's now of us now,' said John, the last one to hold her.

'One of us, one of us, one of us, one of us,' Tig chanted quietly to Ayesha.

'Tig, stop that,' said Happy.

John gave her back to Happy, who made sure she was wrapped up tightly. The guys soon headed out, saying that they would be back tomorrow to make sure everything was alright. Jackson was still a little mad that it was a girl, but was coming around to the idea of having a girl around. He's eight, he's still a shithead. Opie was fine with it and Thomas didn't really understand that much.

'You're not going to like what I do,' Happy said quietly to her as they were alone. 'I'm probably going to go to jail at some – well, many times during your life, but that doesn't mean I don't love you.'

Ayesha blinked as though understanding what he was saying.

He walked back slowly to Maya's room and was pleasantly surprised to see that she was awake.

'One's enough?' she asked, a bit anxious.

'One's perfect.'

* * *

Every day as Ayesha grew, everyone kept saying she looked exactly like Maya, but she didn't see it like that. Ayesha was her father. Ayesha looked like Arjun. There was no denying it, but nobody else saw it like that.

She was a sweet girl, quick to love and easy to laugh. She was quiet, too, always watching people rather than talking. She eventually grew out of it, but that was later on when she became bigger.

Her best friend was Thomas. They did everything together. Maya suspected Gemma had something to do with it, but didn't say anything because of the sheer joy on Ayesha's face every time she was with Thomas. Jackson and Opie looked after her. They protected her from nearly everything, except for bugs. Bugs were just too scary for them.

Emilia loved her. She was so happy to have a grandkid and would always called Ayesha up just to hear her voice or to make sure that she was okay. Every time Emilia came over or when they went over to her house, she would always cook for her and have a new present each time. She spoiled her granddaughter rotten.

Ayesha always drifted from one of the guys to the next, but loved them equally. She loved Bobby mostly because he either had cookies or brownies for her. She learned how to cook from him using his recipes. She loved Tig because he made her laugh all the time with his – well, weirdness as Happy always said. She loved Clay because he would always have some lesson or another about bikes. She loved Lenny and Otto because they taught her how to fight, and Maya blamed them when she got into her first fight when she was barely four at the park. She loved Piney because he had some story or another to tell her. She loved Chibs because he was new and she always found new things very interesting. She also liked his accent. She loved John because he always passed on some sort of wisdom to her.

They indulged in her too much. Always carrying her around, treating her like a princess and never acknowledging the fact that she could anything wrong. The worst was Happy.

Talk about daddy's little girl, Ayesha had him wrapped around her tiny fingers. Whatever she wanted, she got. He would go to war for her if someone ever hurt her. He did everything for her. No questions asked. He always bought her things, never pink though because her favorite colour has always been blue since the time she was wearing that beanie.

Gemma and Luann didn't see her like the guys, who were practically blind. Gemma more than Luann, who constantly doted on her, but Gemma had other plans for Ayesha. SAMCRO born and raised, she wanted Ayesha to marry Thomas. Maya never said anything, because, well, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but she didn't want to make it like an arranged marriage or anything like that. If it happened, it happened.

* * *

When she was four, she, Thomas, Jackson and Opie performed a blood ritual, or whatever they were calling it back then. Basically, Jackson and Opie wanted to share blood so that they would actually become brothers, and Thomas and Ayesha wanted to do it too, so the idiots let them. Jackson stole Happy's knife while the others waited in the backyard, huddling together. Ayesha was four, Thomas was six and Jackson and Opie were twelve. Just saying.

Surprisingly enough, Ayesha never actually cried when they cut her hand. And it was a big cut, too. It was a huge gash that stretched across the palm of her hand, but she didn't cry. She just gazed at it in wonderment.

Once they actually smeared blood all over each other, Jax and Opie were panicking because they didn't know how to explain the blood while Ayesha and Thomas were admiring the cuts. They tried to wash the blood with the hose, but by then Happy found them.

Oh, did they yell, all right. Maya, Happy, Gemma, John and Piney all at once.

'IDIOTS –!'

'WHAT WERE YOU THINKING -?'

'YOU NEVER TOUCH MY KNIFE –!'

'YOU COULD HAVE KILLLED EACH OTHER –!'

'HOW STUPID ARE YOU – ?'

This went on for a while until Happy, John and Piney needed a smoke. Gemma called Chibs and he came over and stitched them up. Ayesha loved her stitch more the cut.

Jackson and Opie got punished really badly. Everything the Prospects had to do in the clubhouse was now their responsibility for six months. If the bar had to be restocked, they had to do it. They day after a party, and the whole place was completely trashed, they had to clean it all up. The club bathroom, which is the most disgusting thing Maya has ever saw in her whole life, had to be scrubbed with toothbrushes. They were doing the shit work, literally.

Ayesha and Thomas didn't really get punished, since they were four and six, respectively.

* * *

Thomas wasn't getting any better by the time he reached six. There were days when he was fine (like the ritual day) but then there were days when he would seem grey, or when he would always seem to be out of breath. It seemed to be getting worse as the days went by. His chest would hurt, parts of his body would swell up, and he couldn't focus on one thing for too long.

It's only when Gemma took him to the doctors did they know that he was diagnosed with congenital heart defect. The doctors said that it could be treatable with surgery and they booked it as soon as they could.

Waiting in the hospital while the surgery was going on was torturous. John was still in Ireland since there was some sort of deal that needed to be done and Maya was pissed at him. Your son, your own flesh and blood, is more important than some sort of gun deal. Gemma kept pacing up and down the room, occasionally touching the scar on her chest. She asked Maya and Ayesha to be there for the surgery, for moral support.

Maya was sitting in the corner watching Ayesha and Jax. Jax kept fidgeting in his seat while Ayesha was colouring a picture for Thomas and urging Jax to do the same. After some time, Jax conceded and followed her led.

When the doctor came out, he took Gemma and Maya outside so that the kids wouldn't hear what happened. The surgery was a success, but there was a slight complication and Thomas died for two minutes before the revived him. Gemma was near hysterical when they heard that, but the doctor reassured her that he was fine and healthy. He also said that there shouldn't be any more complications in the future and he will be able to live a long and happy life.

When John heard about what happened, he freaked out that he missed so much with his son. He stopped going to Ireland and stayed home with the kids most of his time. Things with him and Gemma weren't good, but she was happy that the kids were spending time with their dad. She was still pissed at him, which was understandable.

Maya noticed the way Gemma and Clay looked at each other, but didn't say anything. They weren't subtle and it really wasn't any of her business to begin with.

Ayesha was very happy when she heard that Thomas's surgery was successful. She made Happy buy him a pirate teddy bear from Toys 'R' Us.

'Thanks, Ayesha,' Thomas said, smiling weakly at her when she handed him the gift. 'We'll roam the seven seas together soon.'

'Pinky promise?' Ayesha asked, sticking out her finger.

'Pinky promise,' said Thomas, wrapping his finger around hers.

Jackson was very relieved when he saw Thomas again after the surgery and did everything for him. He made sure nothing happened to his little brother and nearly got into a fight with a nurse that he didn't recognize. He stopped when the administrator threatened to kick him out of the hospital.

When Maya and Ayesha returned home from the hospital, Maya hugged her daughter close to her and thanked whoever was listening for keeping her daughter safe and for giving back Thomas's life.

* * *

It was ten months after Thomas's surgery when Maya and Happy decided to move to Tacoma. It was a fresh new start and the charter there needed more members. Lenny was in jail and Wally died sometime after Ayesha was born. There were still enough members in Charming for them to be comfortable, but Tacoma needed some help.

But Maya was not going to be the one to tell her daughter she was not allowed to see Thomas or Jax or Opie again.

'You do it,' said Maya, sinking back on her couch, putting up her hands in surrender.

'She's not a little kid, Maya,' said Happy, looking uneasy at the hallway towards where Ayesha's room was. 'She'll understand.'

'Fine, then go tell her,' said Maya, gesturing towards the hall.

Happy gave her an annoyed look before sighing, getting up and walking to Ayesha's room. Maya heard some mumbling from the living room, but no outburst yet. It was only when Maya got up and walked towards the room did she see Ayesha's head on Happy's lay, crying her eyes out.

'Everything's going to be okay,' said Happy, looking very uncomfortable. Even when she was a baby, Happy couldn't stand to be around her because he didn't know how to stop her from crying. It physically hurt him when he didn't know how to fix his daughter's heart.

Ayesha was mumbling something, but through the tears, neither of them could understand her. Maya sat on the bed and went to go hug her, but Ayesha pushed her away. She then buried herself in her blanket, screaming, 'GET OUT!'

'Ayesha!' Happy yelled, angry at her behaviour, but would never hit her. He didn't believe in that sort of thing, especially after seeing Maya in the hospital.

'GET OUT!' Ayesha screamed again. 'Get out! Get out! Get out…'

She kept sobbing into her pillow, her shoulder moving up and down at an uneven pace. Maya put her hand on Ayesha's shoulder, but she shoved it away, moving further away from Maya.

'Ayesha,' Maya said softly, edging closer to her daughter. 'Please, look at me.'

'No,' Ayesha sobbed. 'Go away…'

Maya and Happy looked at each other. Maya sighed and left the room to go call Gemma.

'Hey, something wrong?' Gemma asked on the other line.

'Yeah, is Thomas doing anything?' Maya asked.

'No, why?'

'Can you bring him over? I think Ayesha needs to see him.'

'Sure, I'll be there soon,' said Gemma uncertainly, as she wanted some questions answered.

Maya thanked her before putting the phone down. She sighed again as she gripped the kitchen counter, thinking.

'We're still moving,' Happy said, watching her from the doorway.

'I know,' Maya said quietly, sighing yet again. 'She'll get over it. She'll understand.'

But Maya had this overwhelming sense of guilt building up in her as she could still hear her sobbing daughter in the other room. Happy stepped out for a smoke and Maya followed him. They sat on the steps to the house.

'Isn't there anything closer?' Maya asked. 'The next town over or something?'

'No,' said Happy, shaking his head, blowing out some smoke. 'I already put in the transfer. We're moving to go to Tacoma.'

'How far away is it?'

'11 hours, give or take a couple,' said Happy, shrugging.

'Tacoma's nice?'

'Sure,' said Happy, uncertain, shrugging.

They heard the doorbell ring with the door being pounded on. Maya got up and tried to ignore the feeling of rushing to Ayesha's room, telling her that they weren't moving and that they were going to stay in Charming forever.

Opening the door, Maya's eye immediately went to Thomas, who was smiling widely at her. He has been doing great since his surgery and bounced back fast. Maya was so happy that he survived and would be able to grow up living the life he was supposed to.

'Hey, Tommy,' said Maya. 'Ayesha's in her room, but she's a bit sad today.'

Thomas frowned slightly before walking to Ayesha's room. Maya smiled sadly in his direction. They wouldn't be able to do this for a while longer.

'Something wrong?' Gemma asked, walking to Maya's kitchen as making herself some coffee.

'Yeah, we're moving to Tacoma,' said Maya, dreading Gemma's response.

'What?!' Gemma demanded, rounding off at her. 'What the fuck do you mean you're moving to Tacoma?'

'Me, Happy and Ayesha are moving to Tacoma,' said Maya, a bit more slowly. 'It's a fresh new start and the charter there needs more members. It's a good opportunity for Happy.'

'I don't give a shit,' said Gemma, putting her hands on her hips. 'You can't just leave. This house, what're going to do with this house?'

'We'll still keep it,' said Maya. 'We'll still have a home in Charming and we'll visit as much as we can.'

'But you can't just pick up and leave,' Gemma insisted. 'What about Ayesha? How does she feel?'

'She hates it,' Maya mumbled, looking away slightly. 'But she'll soon understand.'

'I'm calling John and we'll get this whole thing straightened out,' said Gemma, reaching for the phone when Maya grabbed it away.

'Gemma, this is happening,' snapped Maya. 'We're going to pack our stuff and we're going to move to Tacoma, that's final. It's 11 hours away and it's not like we're never coming back. This is going to be good for all of us.'

Gemma looked slightly taken back by Maya's tone, but nodded with a grimace.

'I still don't like it,' Gemma stated.

'I know,' sighed Maya.

'Where's Hap?'

'Outside, probably on his fifth smoke by now.'

They just looked at each other for a minute with slight smiles. Maya always appreciated her friendship with Gemma and Luann. She was always grateful that they were always there for her. She even came to think of them as her sisters in a way. They always did things together and met up at least once a week to just talk and eat pastries. Maya's gonna miss that.

'We should go check on the kids,' said Gemma, putting her arm around Maya's shoulder with a kiss on the cheek.

They walked to Ayesha's room where they found Thomas telling her a story that seemed to have brought a small smile to Ayesha's face. She was hiccupping, her face was shining with tears and her hair was sticking to her face, but she smiled for Thomas.

'What's going on in here?' Gemma asked, smiling at them.

'I'm telling Ayesha about Jax and Opie begging Dad and Piney to teach them how to ride a bike,' said Thomas, smiling at them. 'And how they tried to steal the bike, but Tig caught them.'

'Those shitheads,' Gemma whispered. 'He could have gotten hurt.'

'I think Dad shouting at them did more damage,' said Thomas, his smile widening.

Gemma looked satisfied with that and turned her attention to Ayesha.

'Are you okay, baby?' she asked.

Ayesha nodded. 'Can Thomas sleepover?'

'I'm fine with that,' said Gemma, looking at Maya.

'Sure.'

The two of them watched a movie while Ayesha promptly ignored Maya and Happy the whole night. Thomas was the one who had to request food and drinks, while Ayesha just watched the movie. Happy was really pissed off at her, but Maya told him to calm down and that she would get over it soon enough.

But two weeks passed and Ayesha barely said anything to the two of them, except for simple one-worded answers. On the last day, Maya decided she had enough.

'Ayesha, what's wrong?' Maya asked, crossing her arms. Her mother would have held her by her hair until she gave an answer, but Maya was determined not to be like that.

'Nothing,' Ayesha said casually, colouring in her book.

'Well, something's wrong because you barely talk to us anymore,' said Maya.

'Nothing's wrong,' said Ayesha, shrugging. 'I'm excited to move.'

'You are?' asked Maya, her eyebrows rose.

'Yeah,' said Ayesha, nodding. 'It'll be fun.'

Her lips were trembling and she was biting the edge of her right thumb before turning away. Maya sat down on her bed, bringing Ayesha close to her. She brushed her daughter's hair down while kissing her forehead.

'I know you don't want to leave Charming,' Maya said softly. 'But this is what's good for all of us. It's a fresh new start and we'll always come and visit everyone.'

'Promise?' Ayesha said with a small, shaky voice, as one hand clutched Maya's shirt while the other traced the outline of her crow. Maya has two other tattoos she collected over the years. One was of Ayesha's name on her left wrist while the other was of Arjun's name with 'Rest in Peace' on her inner left arm.

'I promise,' Maya vowed. 'Now,' she said, pulling her daughter's face away so she could look her in the eyes, 'we have to get some sleep, big day tomorrow. Promise me you'll be good. For me and for daddy.'

Ayesha nodded her head and they all slept in the same bed that day. Happy was surprised to see that and immediately smiled when Ayesha held him close to her.

The day they moved, everyone came over to say goodbye while Gemma brought over some food for them all to eat. The guys seemed sad to lose Happy and them to another charter while Luann kept saying that they were all drifting apart and would never see each other again.

Once everything was loaded on the truck, things became a bit harder. Maya hugged everyone and was sad to let go of Gemma, Luann and Piney. Jax was scowling when she hugged him, but held on extra tight just before letting go of her. Opie kissed her cheek and said that once he learned how to ride a bike, he would come and visit them. Thomas said that he would miss her, but his focus was more on Ayesha.

They were whispering very quietly to each other and he gave her something wrapped up in a bundle. She gave him a big hug before turning to Jax and Opie.

When they got in the truck, she stuck her head out of it, waving until she couldn't see them anymore. She slowly opened her present to see a blue blanket with a motorcycle on it. She fell asleep all the way to Tacoma.

* * *

The first person she latched on to in the Tacoma charter was Kozik. It was probably because the blonde hair reminded her of the Tellers, so Happy kept telling Maya. Every time she wasn't following Happy, she was following Kozik. He didn't seem to mind. He actually liked it and indulged her like the guys in Charming. He even taught her how to play poker and how to bluff properly.

Happy was the only one there to have an old lady, so it was always on Sunday mornings when everyone would come over and Maya had to make them breakfast. It wasn't an obligation, but she wanted to. They were so nice to her and Ayesha, and they did everything to make them feel comfortable. Ayesha still missed Charming and Thomas (mostly Thomas), but she grew to love Tacoma.

* * *

They guys from Charming came and visited them after they moved to Tacoma. They were all coming to celebrate Ayesha's fifth birthday. It was still amazing how a group of tough bikers could crumble and become as soft as everybody else when a girl with ponytails would bring them cookies.

Ayesha insisted on baking chocolate chip cookies for everybody for her birthday once she heard they were all coming. Maya tried to tell her it was the other way around, which they should be baking cookies for her, but she just didn't listen. They used Bobby's recipe and the moment it was done, they brought it all over to the clubhouse.

By the time they got there, SAMCRO was already making themselves comfortable. They cheered when they saw Ayesha come in and cheered even more when they saw she was carrying cookies for everyone. She was definitely happy when she saw Thomas.

'Surprise,' said Gemma, hugging Maya. 'Bet you taught you'd never see me again.'

'Oh, I knew you'd get bored and find me somehow,' said Maya, smiling. 'How are you?'

'Fine,' Gemma shrugged, watching Ayesha as she was telling Thomas something very fast and he was trying to keep up with her. 'Miss you though.'

'I knew it,' Maya said triumphantly with a haughty smile.

'Oh, stop acting all smug,' said Gemma, rolling her eyes with a small smile. 'I miss Ayesha the most.'

'That's fine,' said Maya, smirking at her. 'You still admit you missed me. I'll take it.'

Then Jax and Opie came over, both attacking Maya with hugs.

'It's good to see you two,' said Maya, kissing their foreheads. Gemma went to go see whether or not the cake was ready. Bobby came earlier than the others to bake it.

'Missed you too,' said Jax, wiping his forehead while Opie nodded.

'Those two are really hitting it up,' said Maya, watching Ayesha and Thomas.

'He misses her,' said Opie, shrugging as he and Jax turned as well. 'Can't stop talking about her.'

'Really?'

'Yeah,' said Jax, sounding annoyed. 'All the time asking about her and when we're coming to visit you guys. This should shut him up for a while.'

'Be nice,' Maya said, lightly hitting Jax's arm when Piney went to go steal Ayesha for a moment. 'Go mingle, I wanna talk to Thomas.'

'Mingle?' said Opie, looking taken back. 'Nobody says mingle.'

'I say mingle,' said Maya, crossing her arms. 'Are you saying I'm nobody?'

'Well, no – I didn't – '

'Are you saying I mean very little to you?' Maya said, pretending to choke up a bit.

'No! That's not what I'm saying,' said Opie, trying his best to reassure her while Jax was shaking his head as he knew what Maya was doing. 'You mean a lot to me. You're my favourite person.'

'Oh, that's nice,' said Maya, smiling at him.

'Ope, she just played you,' said Jax, sounding embarrassed for his brother.

'What?' said Opie, looking between Maya and Jax. 'That was mean. I take back everything I said.' And he walked off to the kitchen to hunt for food while Jax followed him.

'That was fun,' Maya said to no one in particular.

Luann waved to her from across the bar, but she was in a heated poker game with Lee, Marshall, Kozik and Clay. It looked as though she was kicking their asses. Thomas was sitting on the couch watching them.

'Hey, Tommy,' said Maya, sitting next to him. 'How are you?'

'Good,' said Thomas, smiling at her. 'You?'

'Good,' said Maya, nodding. 'I heard you missed me.'

'I missed Ayesha,' Thomas corrected her with a smirk. 'You just came along as a packaged deal.'

'How old are you?'

'Seven, why?'

'You're already too cheeky.'

'Yeah, Dad says I get that from mom.'

'Yeah, I bet,' said Maya as Ayesha hopped of Piney's lap and made her way over to them and sat on the table with a big smile.

'What did Piney say to you, baby?' Maya asked.

'He said happy birthday, then he told me about the day I was born, and he told he about how I was going to be the first daughter, and then president,' said Ayesha, smiling widely with innocence.

'The first what?' said Maya.

Ayesha just smiled before taking Thomas's hand, saying she had to show him something.

'What do you mean 'the first daughter'?' Maya demanded Piney.

'I was just teasing her,' said Piney.

'What does it mean?' Maya repeated.

'I was just telling her that she was going to be the first girl to join the club and become president before Jax and Opie, just to make them pissed,' said Piney. 'So, she'll be the first daughter.'

'I don't want you telling her that!' Maya hissed, slapping his arm. 'She idolizes everyone in the club and probably thinks she is going to join one day! I don't want her to be disappointed when it doesn't happen!'

'Relax,' said Piney, waving it off. 'She'll know the rules when she grows up. Let her have her fun for now.'

Scowling at him, Maya went to go as Lee and Bobby if they could cut the cake soon.

'I'll get it,' said Bobby. 'I just have to add something to it.'

'Where's Happy?' Lee asked as Bobby left to go to the kitchen.

'Should be here soon,' said Maya, looking out the window. 'Speak of the devil.'

Happy was supposed to go to Bakersfield to get Emilia and Luciana, his aunt who flew in from Brooklyn. It was supposed to be a surprise for Ayesha. Maya checked to make sure Ayesha wasn't around and went to the door, opening it.

'Hey,' Maya said quietly, kissing him. 'Hey, Emilia, Luciana.'

They all exchanged nice pleasantries. 'Good to see you again!', 'It's been so long!', 'You look great!' etc before they heard 'Grandma!'

'Shit!' hissed Happy, who want to do this big reveal and some other things to make this memorable for Ayesha.

'It's fine,' Maya said, rubbing his arm as Ayesha wrapped her arms around Emilia's neck, peppering her and Luciana's cheeks with kisses. 'She's happy, that's all that matters.'

'Cake!' Bobby yelled, bringing out the huge blue cake with a motorcycle on it. Everyone gathered around it and began to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Ayesha. Her jaw dropped in a very comical way when she saw the cake. Happy held her up in his arms so that she can get a good view of it.

For the rest of the night, Ayesha was in the constant company of Thomas. They either talked to each other the whole time, or they were with Chibs and Tig. Maya honestly didn't know what those two could possible talk about. Ayesha was now five and Thomas was seven, it made no sense whatsoever to Maya.

Everyone was staying at the clubhouse for the night, while Thomas was going to stay over at their house after the two of them begging Maya and Gemma. They stayed up very late, despite Maya's constant reminders and Happy's threats. They still didn't listen, so they gave up. Emilia and Luciana laughed at Maya and Happy. They just sat back and watched their parenting, happy to just be grandparents instead.

When it came for everyone to head back to Charming, Ayesha gave them all a hug and kissed Thomas's check, much to Happy's disapproval.

'What the hell was that about?' Happy stated while Ayesha was waving on the curve to the disappearing bikes.

'What was what all about?' Maya asked, pretending to be clueless.

'Don't play dumb,' snapped Happy. 'You know what I'm talking about. Why the fuck did she kiss him?'

'I dunno, maybe it's because they're friends,' said Maya, shrugging. 'I kissed the guys on the cheek when they left.'

'Yeah, but that's different,' said Happy. 'Ayesha doesn't know what a kiss leads to.'

'Oh, really,' said Maya, sarcastically, turning her whole body to his. 'What does a kiss lead to?'

'It starts out as a kiss, then it leads to more kissing, then it leads to them having sex, which leads to Ayesha becoming pregnant, then it's her giving birth to triplets, and them living in a trailer park for the rest of her life,' said Happy without missing a beat.

'It must be hell inside your head,' said Maya, shaking her head with an exasperated look towards Happy. He merely shrugged and dropped the subject when Ayesha asked if she could go get ice cream with Kozik.

* * *

It was four months after the birth party when Happy went to jail. He was caught by the cops doing club work. Transporting illegal firearms to a charter in Nevada. He got sentenced for one year. Maya understood that the club comes first and that it was family, but that didn't mean she liked Happy going to jail.

Not knowing how to explain to Ayesha that Happy was going to jail, Kozik and Lee had an idea. They told her he was going away for breaking the swearing law. Maya didn't know what to say at this point and just agreed with them.

It was a week after Happy got incarcerated when the two of them went to go visit him. He smiled when he saw the two of them and pulled Maya into a hug, kissing her before pulling Ayesha on his lap, hugging her.

'Daddy, did you break the swearing law?' she whispered to him, glancing at the prison guard.

'I did, who told you?' he asked, kissing her forehead.

'Kozik and Lee,' said Ayesha. 'They said you swear a lot.'

'I do.'

'And they finally caught up to you.'

'They did.'

'I still love you.'

'I love you too, baby,' he said, smiling at her before turning to Maya. 'How are you?'

'Me? What about you? How is everything? Are you getting enough food? Are you getting some exercise? Has anybody tried -?'

Happy snorted, stopping her. 'I'm fine. Just tell me what's going on outside.'

'The guys are trying to find out how the cops knew. Lee's really mad and Kozik's trying to help us. He's crashed over a couple times, sleeping on the couch. Nevada's got the stuff, but that's all I know so far.'

'Tell me if they find out anything.'

Ayesha was going through Maya's purse, trying to find the picture she drew of the three of them. She slyly handed it to Happy, kissing his cheek when the guard told them that their time was up. Happy hugged them both and gave Maya a kiss.

'I'll come back soon,' Maya whispered to him, choking back a sob. 'Take care.'

'You too,' said Happy, his hand lingering on the both of them. 'Don't get into too much trouble and let Kozik help around the house and whatnot.'

He sighed as he hugged Ayesha again. 'I love you both.' He kissed Maya again.

* * *

That year went by slowly for Maya. She found a job working at the garage SAMTAC owned. She was their manager and did all the paper work. Pretty much all the things the guys didn't want to do. The guys helped Maya whenever she needed it. They did all they could to make sure the both of them were fine. Kozik crashed on their couch every other day. Maya knew Happy ordered him too, and was grateful. He kept Ayesha entertained whenever he didn't have any club work to do.

Ayesha was still under the impression that Happy broke the swearing law and that it was a real thing. She made sure none of the other guys swore. Every time Kozik slipped up, she would cover his mouth and would look outside the house, fearful that the cops would come and take him too. Happy got a kick out of that.

The two of them visited him every two weeks while Maya went and visited him alone every two weeks also. She knew she was being selfish, but she wanted some alone time with Happy. She missed him, he missed her and it was torture. Maya would sometimes just hug Ayesha for long periods of the day or let her sleep in their bed, holding on to her. Ayesha was the last piece of Happy she had left.

Kozik told her she was being silly and that Happy would get out soon. But it was a year too long. And she needed him. She really needed him. And, yeah, in that way too.

Maya and Ayesha were waiting in the parking lot of the clubhouse with some of the Prospects and croweaters for the guys to come back with Happy. SAMCRO decided to come up for the party and also went to go pick up Happy with SAMTAC.

Maya was practically bouncing up and down, too excited. Gemma kept telling her to stop, but she didn't listen. One of the Prospects, Scott, kept Ayesha and Thomas entertained as they played dragons together. Scott was the dragon while Ayesha and Thomas were the knights. They stopped when they heard the roar of motorcycles entering the lot. Everybody in the lot was cheering at the noise.

Maya waited for a couple minutes (seconds, really) before running to Happy, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. He returned it just as eagerly as she gave it.

'Well, isn't someone excited?' said Marshall, the VP of SAMTAC, laughing.

'Piss off,' said Maya, looking Happy in the eyes. 'I wanted to welcome my husband back.'

Happy grinned and kissed her again deeply before hearing 'Daddy!'

Ayesha was running towards Happy, who picked her up immediately and held her close. She was laughing and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

'I missed you, baby,' he said.

'Silly daddy, I saw you last week,' said Ayesha, putting her head on his shoulder.

'Yes, daddy is silly, isn't he?' said Happy, smiling fondly at her.

They three of them walked inside the clubhouse where the guys threw a welcome home party for him.

That night Lee let Ayesha stay over while Gemma kept an eye on her as Maya showed Happy just how much she missed him.

* * *

'Do you want to dance?' Ayesha asked Thomas.

'No,' he snapped.

Ayesha scowled at him while Opie offered to dance with her. Maya was watching them.

They were at Gemma and Clay's wedding three years later. John has only been dead for one and Thomas and Jax were still grieving. Maya didn't understand why Gemma had to get married so fast after John's death, but it was none of her business, and if Gemma was happy, then it was fine. The only two people that really despised this were Thomas and Jax.

The two of them were sitting at the abandoned table, glaring at Clay with hatred in their identical blue eyes. Maya was standing at the bar when Happy wrapped his arms around her from the back.

'Remind you of our wedding?' he asked, kissing her neck.

'Sure,' said Maya sarcastically, rolling her eyes, 'except for the glaring kids.'

'They'll be fine,' said Happy, looking at Thomas and Jax. 'They just miss John.'

'We should say something,' Maya muttered.

'You should say something,' said Happy, getting a beer. 'You lost your dad. You can relate to them more.'

Nodding her head, Maya went over to them, sitting beside Jax.

'Are you two okay?' Maya asked.

'No,' Jax scoffed while Thomas glared at her.

'Come and dance with me,' said Maya, standing up with her hands stretched out towards Jax. He shook his head firmly before Maya just grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the dance floor. Thomas followed them grudgingly. The two of them just stood there looking pissed while everyone else danced. Luann grabbed Jax and started to dance with him while Maya did the same with Thomas. It took a while before the both had smiles on their faces and started to dance with the rest of them.

Ayesha kept ignoring Thomas the whole time, despite the fact that he was trying to apologize to her for his behaviour.

'I'm sorry,' Thomas said for the tenth time as they ate some cake. 'I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.'

'You were very rude,' said Ayesha, not looking at him and had a very superior look on her face. She looked and acted like a Queen at the moment with her lovely purple dress. Maya and Happy were proud.

'I know, and I'm sorry,' said Thomas, leaning closer to her. 'You're still my favourite person.'

Despite her efforts, a small smile appeared on Ayesha's face with some blush on her cheeks, but she was still not looking at Thomas.

'You mean it?' she asked quietly.

'Yes,' said Thomas, nodding.

'Okay then,' said Ayesha, looking at the briefly before her attention was back on her cake.

* * *

Over the years, they still visited Charming. Things got a little better between the Teller brothers and Clay. They saw how happy Gemma was and sort of backed off, but they didn't consider Clay their father. Jackson and Opie started their Prospect roles straight out of school and Ayesha was jealous, but she was pissed when Thomas started his. She said that she wanted to be a Son and that she would have been better at it than the three of them put together.

She refused to talk to any of the members, which lasted for a day and crumbled when Kozik came over to make pancakes with her, their little ritual.

* * *

Maya was doing some paper work in the garage and making sure that they did the work when Marshall told her Ayesha's school called. It turned out she got into a fight with some other girl and the principal was waiting for them.

This was not her first fight in school. She's been in so many since middle school and when she got to high school it got even worse. This was the third time they were called in this year. Ayesha never got along with the other students since most of them looked down on her relationship with the club.

Maya called Happy and they met at Ayesha's high school. They walked into the principal's office to see Ayesha already there with a scowl on her face that reminded Maya of Happy's. She had her arms crossed with nail scratches on her right temple and a bruise on her left cheek. There was some blood on her green flannel shirt and the black tank top underneath.

'Hi, I'm Mr Trope, the principal, please sit down,' he indicated towards the chairs in front of his desk.

'Mr and Mrs Lowman, as you both know, we're here to discuss what happened today at lunch between your daughter and Felicia Powell. There was apparently an argument that occurred and Ayesha here threw the first punch.'

'That's not what happened,' snapped Ayesha, her anger clearly showing.

'There were many witnesses that saw you punch Felicia first. Are you saying that twenty-five people lied?'

'Fine, I _technically _punched her first, but she shoved me. She laid her hands on me first,' Ayesha said.

'Mr and Mrs Lowman, as you both know, we don't condone violence in our school, and Ayesha will have to be –'

'What was the fight about?' Happy interrupted his voice low and dangerous. He wasn't wearing his cut, but he still looked very intimidating.

'Well, Ayesha and Felicia don't get along and –'

'What was it about?' Happy interrupted.

'She called me a slut and asked whether or not I would like a pillow since I spend all my time on my back,' Ayesha answered without skipping a beat.

Happy gripped the seat of his chair tightly. He was grinding his jaw and he looked like he was ready to murder someone.

'Yes, that is what happened, however a fight did occur and Ayesha will be suspended for a month and will need to seek anger management counselling. We do have some counselors here that would do it, or if you'd prefer to do it outside of school –'

'What's going to happen to the other girl?' Maya asked, speaking for the first time. 'I'm assuming the school is going to do something, right?'

'Felicia Powell is receiving two day's suspension and a week's detention,' said Mr Trope.

'Why is my daughter getting a longer sentence?' Maya asked, angry with Trope.

'Her father's on the Board of Education,' said Ayesha. 'She's practically untouchable around her.'

Trope turned red. 'Ayesha, please go outside, I wish to speak to your parents alone.'

Maya and Happy opened their mouths open to protest, but Ayesha stormed out of the office and slammed the door at her wake.

'So, this Powell girl getting off Scott free while my daughter gets a month's suspension and has to seek counseling. Tell me, Mr Trope, does this sound right?' said Maya, crossing her arms, turning her attention back to Trope.

'Mrs Lowman, be that as it may, they still got into a fight and –'

'And Ayesha is the one getting punished,' said Happy.

'So is Felicia, Mr Lowman,' said Trope.

'But not as much,' said Maya.

Trope paused for a moment, trying to compose himself. 'Mr and Mrs Lowman, I am trying to run a school here. I try my best with these students. We get good students and we get bad ones. Unfortunately, Ayesha falls into both. She has a lot of potential. She's a very good student academically but this is not her first just doesn't have a very good relationship with the students and teachers even. I think Ayesha's time away from her will be beneficial for everyone, and –'

'Explain to me _how _this is beneficial to everyone?' said Maya, exasperated.

'Time away for school is what everyone needs, Mrs Lowman,' said Trope, sounding cross with Maya.

'Drop that tone, Trope,' growled Happy, not liking the disrespect Trope was showing his wife.

'Now, look here, Mr Lowman,' said Trope, pointing his finger at Happy, who looked as though he would have liked to break that guy's arm. 'I am trying my best here, and I need cooperation from all students and parents.' He sighed for a moment and looked at both Maya and Happy. 'I can see where Ayesha gets her anger from. She needs help before she turns into –'

'Mr Trope,' said the secretary, bursting in frantically. 'I'm sorry, but there has been some damage to your car. Someone smashed it with a baseball bat.'

'What?!'

Trope ran out of his office and Maya and Happy followed him into the parking lot. In a very secluded part of the school parking lot, his black Mercedes's windshield was gone and there were many dents surrounding it. Nobody except for the three and the secretary of them was there. Trope cried out in agony as he inspected his car.

'Where's Ayesha?' Trope demanded, turning to the secretary, who cowered back in fright.

'She went to the bathroom, sir, and never came back,' she squeaked out.

'She did this,' said Trope, turning to Maya and Happy, who just folded their arms.

'No witnesses,' said Happy, looking around at the parking lot. 'Shitty place you chose to park your car, Trope. There was no chance of anybody seeing.'

'I can prove this happened,' seethed the principal. 'There are security camera everywhere, I can just go back and –'

'Actually, sir, the cameras are not working at the moment and will only be fixed tomorrow,' said his secretary.

Oh, was he furious now. Maya honestly had enough of him and Happy was feeling the same way. The lack of respect he was showing to the both of them and their daughter really pissed them off.

'So, if you're done accusing my daughter of something she didn't do, we'll leave now,' said Maya, grabbing Happy's hand. 'She'll see you in three weeks and _we'll_ deal with her anger within the family.'

Maya got in her car while Happy got on his bike. He went back to the clubhouse and she went to the batting cage a couple blocks away from their house.

Surely enough, Ayesha was there and she was the only one. The only worker that was there looked bored and didn't even care that a high school girl was there in the middle of the day swinging her bat and drinking beer.

'I think that's enough,' said Maya, taking the bottle she was holding. Ayesha glared at her mother.

'It's not my fault,' she said quietly, adding in more quarters into the machine.

'I know, but you're still suspended,' said Maya, getting behind the safety cage.

'They all hate me,' Ayesha said. 'I never did anything to them. I don't even talk to those kids. I keep to myself most of the time, but they still hate me. Even the teachers hate me.'

She held her bat up, her own bat, and swung as the ball came closer to her.

'Nobody talks to me unless they want to insult me,' said Ayesha, swinging again. 'I've tried fitting in, you know, but they still treat me like shit. Those things Powell said weren't even the worst. Last week, Glenn Benson asked me how many dicks I sucked in the clubhouse and how I would like to go to the boy's bathroom and do it to him too.'

She swung the bat again.

'I broke his nose after school in the parking lot. He never told anybody.'

Another swing.

'When Kozik picked me up the other day after my car broke down, Kathy Livingston asked me how long I was banging him.'

Another swing.

'A couple weeks ago, when I was at the mall, AJ Dundres accused me of stealing her boyfriend. She and her friend poured coke on top of me. That's why I came home wearing a new set of clothes.'

With each swing, her voice kept cracking up until she let her bat drop while she was sobbing into her hands.

'I hate it there. Please don't make me go back there.'

'Oh, baby,' said Maya, pulling Ayesha into a hug and rubbing her back. 'Come on, don't cry, it's going to be fine.'

'Please don't make me go back there,' Ayesha mumbled, still crying. 'I hate it there. I hate it so much. Please don't make me go back.'

'Come on, stop this,' said Maya, cradling Ayesha's hands. 'What if your dad was here? He wouldn't like to see you cry.'

Maya wiped Ayesha's face.

'Listen, you still have one more year of school. If you can survive the first couple days when you get back, then stay. If not, we'll talk about some other options. Maybe another school or something,' said Maya.

'You don't get –'

'I do, trust me, I do,' said Maya. 'The girls I went to school with were horrible, but I somehow got through it. When you go back, and you still can't handle it, then we'll pull you out of that school and into another one. We'll think of something. We always do.'

Ayesha calmed down considerable, taking in deep breaths. She closed her eyes while her fingers were pressed to her eyes.

'I still have to go for anger management classes,' she said.

'I told Trope that we would handle this within the family,' said Maya.

'Yeah, I know what that means,' said Ayesha, snorting, opening her eyes. 'You're going to call in SAMTAC and SAMCRO to straighten me out.'

'No,' said Maya, shaking her head. 'I'm not going to call in SAMCRO. Even if I did, you know they're not going to say anything to you. They'll probably just pat you on the back and tell you to keep it up.'

Ayesha gave a shaky laugh.

'Come on, let's go to the clubhouse, Happy's waiting,' said Maya, rubbing Ayesha's shoulders. 'You have blood on your shirt, by the way.'

'Yeah, it's the other girl's,' said Ayesha, smiling. 'I punched her in the nose.'

'Did you hit Trope's car with a bat?' Maya asked.

'And why would I do that?' Ayesha asked, smiling. 'It's against the law.'

Maya just shook her head with a small smile as Ayesha grabbed her bat and they two of them walked out of the batting cage.

* * *

'My daughter's a scrapper!' said Happy, smiling as he passed Ayesha a beer. 'Did you hear that?'

'She's always been a scrapper,' said Lee, laughing.

They entered the clubhouse and everybody wanted to hear what happened. Once they heard Ayesha inflicted more damage, they were all very happy, and somewhat celebrated the news.

'Come here, kid, let me see yea,' said Gunner, another member who patches everyone up, examining the bruise and scratch marks on Ayesha's face. 'Eh, not that bad, just ice the bruise and you'll be fine.'

'That's because she did more damage than good,' said Kozik, smiling as he side hugged her. 'Our little scrapper.'

During her month suspension, Ayesha did some of the Prospect work, but not a whole lot. She went to go visit everyone in Charming and Emilia one time. The, of course, congratulated her and told her to keep it up. Gemma called Maya and told her that Ayesha and Thomas went to a strip club together and got drunk, but were safe.

Once Ayesha got back, Maya gave her hell and grounded her for the rest of her suspension, and she also had to scrub the clubhouse with a toothbrush. Happy just shook his head, but was trying to keep the amusement out of his face after learning about the strip club.

When she went back to school, nobody harassed her again and she wasn't arrested. Also, apparently Trope's secretary filed a complaint against him, stating that he had anger issues and threatened her and teachers. Ayesha was ecstatic.

* * *

'Hey,' said Ayesha, walking into the garage and sitting on the stool, watching Thomas fix up a beat up old car. 'Wanna do something' today?'

'Can't, gotta finish this car up,' said Thomas, looking under the hood. 'Ma's been hounding on my ass to do something about his piece of shit. Gotta finish it.'

'Well, we can do something later, right?' said Ayesha. 'Come on, I'm heading back to Tacoma tomorrow and we haven't spent any time together at all. Please, for me?'

Thomas looked up for a moment and smiled at her. 'Wanna go to a strip club?'

'What?' said Ayesha, shocked and disgusted a bit.

'Do you want to go to a strip club?' Thomas asked again slowly. 'There's gonna be food there and a live show. It'll be fun.'

'Yeah, but I don't want to go to a strip club,' said Ayesha, looking appalled.

'Come on,' Thomas urged her. 'Did you say you wanted to do something together? It'll be fun.'

'It'll be something alright,' Ayesha mumbled, before taking a deep breath. 'Am I going to regret this?'

'Probably,' said Thomas, shrugging. 'Are you coming or not?'

'Do I need a fake ID?'

'Probably, just in case you wanna drink beer,' said Thomas.

'Fine, I'll come,' said Ayesha, slumping down even more on her seat. 'But I'm not going to have any fun.'

'What are you to yammering on about?' said Gemma, holding some papers in her hands as she just stepped out of her office.

'Going out later,' Thomas said vaguely.

'You're still not done with that car?' Gemma demanded.

'I'm almost done,' said Thomas, vividly. 'It'll be done soon, I promise.'

'It better,' said Gemma. 'Johnson keeps jumping down my throat, keeps asking me if it's done. Finish it so I can never see that asshole again.'

And she walked back into her office while Thomas rolled his eyes.

'So, I'll see you later?' Ayesha asked, standing up and about to walk back into the clubhouse.

Thomas nodded.

* * *

'Okay, this is fun,' said Ayesha, eating ribs and drinking a big glass of beer. 'You were right.'

'I told you,' said Thomas, smirking as The Fabulous Fanni was announced on the stage.

'Okay, if you're name's Fanni, you should not be fabulous,' said Ayesha, laughing as she leaned in closer to Thomas, her lips almost touching his right ear. 'You're name's Fanni.'

Thomas laughed as Fanni came on the stage and started dancing around the pole before grinding on it. All the men in the club were cheering for her and calling out her name, Thomas being one of them. Ayesha just realized that she was the only woman that was in the audience. The two of them were sitting very close to the stage.

'Come on,' said Ayesha, a little bit tipsy. 'Stacy just did that.'

'So?'

'I could do that.'

'Then go,' said Thomas, gesturing towards the stage. 'Do that.'

'I'm not going to be a stripper, but I'm saying I got more moves than her.'

'Sure you do.'

'I do!'

Ayesha got up and got them more beer. This was her third beer and she was starting to get drunk. A couple more and she would have passed out.

'Come on, let's get you back to the clubhouse,' said Thomas as her left arm was slung over his shoulders. 'You're pissed drunk.'

'I am not!' exclaimed Ayesha, burping. She covered her mouth with a laugh.

They reached his bike and were about to get on when Ayesha asked, 'Do you love me?'

'What?' Thomas asked, putting the helmet on for her.

'Do you' – her finger hit his chest –'love me?' she pointed at herself.

'Of course I do,' said Thomas, putting his helmet on.

'No,' Ayesha whined, her eyes closed with her head thrown back in frustration. 'You don't get it!'

'Get what?' Thomas asked, exasperated.

Ayesha was about to say something when a drunk, smelly, oversized man shoved her away, making her fall on the ground, passed out.

'Hey! Watch it!' Thomas snapped at the piece of shit. The man kept on stumbling until he got to his car, which he puked on. Thomas looked at Ayesha, who was now silently snoring, but no damage was done to her.

'Fucking shit,' Thomas whispered, taking his phone out and dialing a number. 'Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up… Ope!'

'What?' Opie said on the other line as music was blaring in the background.

'I need your help, brother,' said Thomas. 'We're outside Cherry's and Ayesha's passed out. Can you come and help us?'

'Now?' Opie sounded annoyed.

'Can you just come, please? Or get someone to help me? Can you do that, Ope?' Thomas asked, frustrated.

Maybe he should have specified that when he meant someone, he meant someone from the club, not his mother. Gemma rolled up in front of his bike fifteen minutes later as Thomas sat on the curve with Ayesha's head on his lap.

'Have a fun date?' Gemma asked, stepping out of her car with her hands on her hips.

'Exhilarating,' Thomas said sarcastically. 'Can you help me?'

'Get her in the back,' said Gemma, opening the door. 'How many did she have?'

'Four,' said Thomas. 'Started mumbling shit after that.'

'Anything interesting?'

'No,' said Thomas after a slight hesitation.

Ayesha got her ass chewed out the next morning at Gemma's house as she yelled at her and Jax came over to bang all the pots and pans close to her ears just to torture her. Ayesha flipped him off and told him specific instructions as to where he could go.

Thomas was still thinking about what she said and put a lot of thought into it. He needed to know what she meant and why he didn't get it. But the thing is, she was drunk and was probably just saying stupid drunk things. Ayesha doesn't even remember what happened after the third beer.

* * *

When Ayesha went back to school, she still didn't have any friends by the time she graduated, by Ayesha really didn't mind. She's got her family and the club. She never did anything that bad since the suspension and that whole car fiasco, until now.

Happy was out on a run with Lee and Marshall while Maya was at home watching TV. Ayesha was out with the Prospect, Dexter, since she was graduating high school. Dexter was a polite guy and really wanted to join. He said yes when Ayesha asked whether he wanted to go out and get drunk that day. Maya knew Ayesha wasn't interested in him and vice versa. She liked him as a friend and Dexter had his eyes on one of the croweaters. He said yes because he thought it would have looked good when it came to him joining the club.

It was close to one o'clock at night when Maya heard a truck pull up her driveway. She looked outside the window to see Kozik pulling a sleeping Ayesha towards the door. She looked like a mess.

'Jesus Christ, what happened?' Maya asked, opening the door.

'Cops brought her in for underage drinking and indecent exposure,' said Kozik, dropping Ayesha off on the couch. 'Morris let her go with a warning.'

Morris was Tacoma's Unser. He was really good with the club and was really nice as well. He helped Maya get out of a couple speeding tickets.

'What do you mean indecent exposure?' asked Maya, nervous for the answer.

'She flashed a couple guys on the highway,' said Kozik, trying to hide a smile.

'Oh, fuck,' said Maya, rubbing her forehead. 'He's not fining her, is he?'

'Nope, just a warning.'

Suddenly, Ayesha's eyes opened. They were unfocused as she took in everything in the room.

'I always hated those curtains,' she said, pointing at it as she got up. 'Never really liked the colour.'

She walked towards the kitchen.

'I hit Trope's car with the bat multiple times, but you knew that.'

She walked towards the dining room her body just swaying in a very loose way.

'I lost my virginity when I was fifteen. He was from a different school and we were both drunk. I puked on him after it was done. Wasn't my proudest moment,' she said, shaking her head with her hair flying from side to side.

Kozik laughed at that.

'Stop that,' snapped Maya. 'What's wrong with her?'

'I don't know,' said Kozik, shrugging.

'It should have been Tommy,' Ayesha continued, sadly. 'I should have lost it to Thomas. I love him, and it's not one of those bullshit things kids say and then they break up the next day. I fucking love Thomas. I've always loved him.'

'Oh, shit,' Kozik whispered, smiling, but dropped it immediately when Ayesha said, 'I took Kozik's bike for a drive once. Never made it past the drive way. It fell over.'

'What?!' Kozik demanded.

'I don't understand the whole thing between Kozik and Tig, never made sense to me. I sometimes wish I were a Son. I love Thomas. I miss Opie and Jax. I miss grandma. And I really hate those curtains. I miss Charming. We should –'

By then she tripped over the coffee table and crashed onto the floor, falling asleep.

'What the fuck just happened?' said Kozik, staring at Ayesha with a confused look on his face.

'I don't know,' Maya sighed. 'Help me with her.'

They carried Ayesha to her room and Kozik told her how she called him in the police station in a very drunken orderly fashion as she slurred on her words until Morris took the phone away from her and told him what happened. Dexter's apparently under some sort of club probation and will be carefully watched for the remainder of his time as a Prospect.

'We're not going to tell Happy about this, okay? He'll go crazy and kill Ayesha, Dexter and whoever else that gets in his path,' said Maya.

'Sure. Can I crash here tonight?' said Kozik, already laying down on the couch.

'Sure, you know where the things are. Night.'

Unfortunately, Happy did find out. Dexter couldn't keep a secret and blurted it to him the next day. First, Happy punched Dexter, and probably did more, but that's all Kozik told her about that. Then, he yelled at Ayesha and made her do all the shit as hell work around the clubhouse and the garage. Then he yelled some more before finally cooling down.

'Jesus fucking Christ,' said Happy, sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.

'It's the first time she ever did anything this bad,' said Maya.

'She also took a bat to her principal's car,' said Happy. 'Did we forget that?'

'I know what she did,' said Maya. 'And I'm not making any excuses for her. Come on, this is the first thing she's ever done that required her to be pulled in. If she was a boy, you'd be patting her on the back and asking for the story.'

'It's not the same,' said Happy mumbled. 'She's our kid, she' our lit –'

'She's not a little girl anymore, Happy,' said Maya. 'She fucked up, I get it, but it's not the end of the world. Plus, she's already got enough shit done around here. Give her a break.'

'I'll think about it,' said Happy, which meant yes to Maya. 'Come here, I've missed you.'

Maya never told anyone about Ayesha's confession about Thomas and made sure Kozik never told anyone either. She was drunk as a bicycle and probably didn't know what she was saying. But the thought of her and Thomas being together was nice. He would have treated her well.

* * *

Happy did eventually forgive her, but Ayesha didn't know she was asking for forgiveness, but kept her mouth shut about it. She graduated for high school and was going to go do some business at a college a couple miles away.

Ayesha seemed to like the first couple years, but for some reason, she dropped out on her second year. Nobody actually knew about it until the school called and told them that. But by then, Ayesha was already in Bakersfield, visiting Emilia. Once Maya and Happy found out, they went over there, only to hear that she left.

Nobody heard from her. Maya called Jax, but he saw no sign of her. Happy called Tacoma, but they knew nothing too. That's when Emilia told them. Ayesha was apparently lost and didn't understand what she really wanted to do with her life. She didn't want to do business anymore and wanted to see the world or North America at least. At that point, Emilia gave her the money she saved up to go on a road trip across America and to go see Canada as well.

Happy never yelled at his mother, not once, but that was a different day. Maya called Jax again to ask whether he could call up the other charters and tell them to keep an eye out for her. He must have sensed her distress or something because within an hour, he and SAMCRO were already there in Emilia's house. Jax, Clay, Tig, Bobby, Chibs and Piney had to physically restrain Happy from killed the closest stranger (or his daughter) while Maya held onto Thomas as she cried on his shoulders.

That was the first time Jackson ever saw her cry.

* * *

Thomas was on his fourth smoke. He was sitting outside the clubhouse on the table, staring out into nothing. He looked tensed and a little pissed off, but underneath all of that, he was sad and heartbroken. Jackson was standing next to his bike, having just got in from seeing if Maya was alright. It was around two in the morning and he stood there watching his little brother for a while before joining him. He's seen that look before.

'When did you know?' Jax asked, taking out his own cigarette and lighting it up.

'Know what?' said Thomas, not looking at him.

'When did you know you were in love with Ayesha?' Jax asked. That look Thomas has on his face was the same one he had when Tara left. That look of hatred and betrayal, but with sadness and rejection.

'We really gonna talk about this now?' Thomas asked, turning to Jax, who just looked at him for a moment. They really did look a-like. They could have been twins and nobody would have noticed. That's how Jax knew what he was feeling. The look in his blue eyes told the whole story.

'I don't know,' said Thomas truthfully. 'I guess I just always knew I was, you know?'

'You two were always close,' said Jax.

'Yeah,' said Thomas, smiling as though thinking about something. A couple minutes passed by when he said, 'when we were kids, she wanted to be a pirate long before she wanted to be a Son. She wanted to roam the seven seas and to find treasure. I told her that I would come with her to keep her safe, but she always said that she would keep me safe.'

Jax smiled a bit. Yeah, he remembered playing pirates with them once with Opie. Ayesha was about four or five and she made Jax walk the plank, so he had to fall face down on the blow up pool in their backyard.

'She wanted to be the first daughter after Piney told her that during her first birthday in Tacoma,' said Thomas, continuing. 'She wanted to be president just to piss you and Opie off. She told me she would have made me her VP.'

He lit up another cigarette, taking a long drag.

'After the heart surgery, she told me she was jealous of my scar, and she told me I was brave,' said Thomas, smiling sadly as he remembered he almost died on the table. 'She made me feel better. She always made me feel better.'

'You remember everything,' said Jax, stating the obvious.

'Of course I remember everything,' said Thomas, snorting. 'What do you expect? I love her, and it's not one of those bullshit high school loves where you just fuck the other person and that's it. Nah, this… this is real, you know? It's… Jesus fucking Christ, I sound like a –'

'You don't,' said Jax, cutting him off.

There was a moment where they both took out another cigarette and lighting it up.

'You know, when she's excited, she does this thing were her whole body sort of shakes with anticipation and sometimes she even squeals when it's something really good,' said Thomas, his eyes unfocused. 'There was a Foo Fighters concert in Seattle. She came all the way here just to take me there. She was… _radiating_ with excitement when we got there.'

He took a drag as Jax simply watched his little brother confess everything to him.

'And when she's bored, she sort of moves her body from side to side, just so she could do something,' Thomas kept going. He let out a shaky breath. 'Her favourite colour's blue because she said that was the colour of the water when she first visited the beach, but I know she's lying. She's subtle when she lies, but she can never lie to me. Her fingers sort of twitch and lock together when she lies.

'And she ruffles the front of her hair or either run her fingers through them when she's nervous or stressed out,' said Thomas, putting out his cigarette. 'She once told me it was her way of telling her brain to work.

'Her favourite holiday beside Christmas is Holi, remember celebrating it?' Thomas asked.

'Didn't we just throw paint at each other?' Jax asked, snorting in amusement.

'Well, dried powder and coloured water, but yeah,' said Thomas, smiling. 'She told me it was the festival of colours and love.

'And when she wants to cry, her lips tremble and she bites the edge of her right thumb before looking away. She doesn't like to look weak in front of people, especially Maya and Hap,' said Thomas as he had a hard look on his face with his jaws clenched.

'She's coming back, brother,' said Jax, already on his fourth smoke. 'Ayesha would never just leave us like this. She would never leave you like this.'

'But she did, didn't she?' Thomas retorted. 'She picked up everything and left me without another word. We sure know how to pick them, huh?'

'Teller boys always have good taste,' said Jax, as a picture of Tara flashed in his mind.

'And bad luck,' said Thomas under his breath. 'I'm gonna go to bed, Jax. Night.'

He got up and walked towards the clubhouse door where he was living ever since he started Prospecting.

'Thomas, you believe me, don't you?' Jax asked, making him stop in his tracks. 'She _is_ coming back.'

Thomas didn't answer him. He just looked at Jax before disappearing through the door and out of sight.

**Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 1

**disclaimer: I do not own anything! Hope you like it!**

Chapter 1

Maya got the call as soon as it happened. Donna was killed during some sort of hit and run with the Niners. The funeral was going to be held in a couple days and Maya knew where she needed to be. She and Happy packed whatever stuff they needed and made the trip to Charming.

Maya liked Donna. She made Opie happy. She brought light into his life and he loved her more than anything in the world. Maya looks out her rear view mirror at Happy riding his bike and gave a small smile. Ayesha was still gone, but Maya at least had Happy. Things got strained when Ayesha left, but they still made it through. They searched and contacted every charter to keep an eye out of her.

The couple times Ayesha called where short and wasn't enough. It was the usual. How are you? How is everything? I'm fine. See you later. Short and sweet, Maya hated it. Happy hated it even more.

As soon as they got to Charming, Maya went to their old house while Happy had some club things to take care of. She didn't question it. He told her stuff at the end of the day, if it was okay for her to hear. She knows what he's capable of, but she never pushed him into telling her anything he didn't want to.

Once Maya was done unpacking all their things, she made her way over to Jax's house. It was late and she knew Gemma was going to be there at least with the baby.

'Well, look who finally decided to show up,' said Gemma, smiling as she opened the door.

'Tacoma's a long drive away, Gem,' said Maya, smiling as they embraced each other. 'How is everyone?'

'As good as they could be,' said Gemma. 'Ope's still hurting.'

Maya walked through the door, taking in the scene around her. She wished she was there for the homecoming party, but she had things to do over in Tacoma. She was buried in paperwork since none of the other guys even bothered to fill out simple things, like what type of model was the car. Shit heads.

There were two people already there sitting on the couch looking very awkward. She recognized Wendy straight away. She was there for the wedding, which was probably one of Jax's biggest mistakes. The other girl she some-what recognized. She looked like Jax's old girlfriend, Tara, but Maya wasn't sure.

'Tara, right?' Maya asked. 'Tara Knowles?'

'Yeah, do I know you?' she asked, standing up and looking between her and Gemma.

'Happy's old lady,' said Maya, sticking her hand out. 'I saw you a couple times before.'

'Um, yeah, the crazy looking guy,' said Tara, shaking Maya's hand with a small smile.

'Yeah, well, we all got a type,' said Maya, shrugging before turning towards Wendy, and more importantly, Abel.

'Can I?' Maya asked, not caring so much about the junkie. She wasn't even asking, really. She had experience dealing with croweaters and people like Wendy. She made sure none of the guys in Tacoma ever got one knocked up and that they stayed the fuck away from Happy. Gina, one of the experienced croweaters, learned it the hard way. Maya didn't kill her or anything like that, but she made sure she was never seen again around the clubhouse.

Gemma must have given her a look or something because Wendy gave him over immediately. Abel's eyes were wide and open, staring into her with deep blue eyes like Jax.

'Shit, kid's a looker,' said Maya, smiling as she looking up at Gemma.

'Teller genes, sweetheart,' said Gemma as Maya gave Abel a kiss on the forehead and passed him back to Wendy. 'Want anything?'

'I'll get myself some tea,' said Maya. Walking into the kitchen, Gemma followed her.

Maya took out a cup and searched for a teabag before starting anything.

'So, how've you been?' Gemma asked, sitting down on the kitchen table. 'I called you about Abel's homecoming, but you never showed up.'

'Got busy in Tacoma,' said Maya, heating the cup of water. 'Guys barely fill out paperwork and I have to keep on searching car models and different parts online to make sure everything runs smoothly. They'd die without me up there.'

'Yeah, I know the feeling,' said Gemma, sympathetically. 'But that's not what I'm asking.'

Maya paused for a moment as she put the teabag into the water and poured milk. She stirred for a couple long seconds, thinking about an answer that wouldn't show how much she's dying inside.

'I'm fine,' Maya said. 'She called last week. Said everything was fine and she should be back soon. Of course, she said that last week too, and the week before and the one before that and last month, last year and the year before that. She barely says anything else except for asking how me and Hap are, how everything was, and that she's fine and would be coming back soon. I stopped believing her after a year. Happy stopped long before that. So, I'm miserable and I'm fine.'

'Jesus,' said Gemma, sighing. 'Nothing else?'

'I've tried to ask her a couple questions,' said Maya, turning and facing the counter as she took a sip of the tea. 'I've asked her why she left, no answer. I asked her where she was, no answer. And I asked her how much longer she was going to be gone, no straight answer.'

'Didn't that school ever tell you why?' Gemma asked. 'She went for some business shit or something.'

'They just told me she talked with some administrator and dropped out. No reason just dropped out. I called and told her about Abel and Donna, but I don't even know if she checks her voicemails.'

'Yeah, well, she'll come back soon,' said Gemma, walking towards Maya and standing beside her. 'I've got a feeling.'

'No offense, Gemma, but I need something more than a feeling,' said Maya. 'I just want my kid back.'

* * *

It was a kid. It was a fucking kid. She must have been a couple years younger than Ayesha, or more. A kid witnesses a murder happened, of course she would go to the cops. But she needed to be taken out, no matter who she was or how young she was, things happen and this needs to get over with.

Tig and Chibs looked reluctant to do anything. Shit, Happy understands. Tig's got Dawn and Fawn and Chib's got Kerrianne. It's like looking at your own daughter and pulling the trigger. He's got Ayesha, but she's not here and hasn't been for two years. He's a father above all, but he's also a Son and this was more important. At least for now it was.

'I could do this, bro,' Happy said.

'No, it's me,' said Tig and the girl's crying got worse.

He pulled her into the kitchen and sat her down on a chair. Chibs stood beside Happy as they watched Tig and the girl.

'I'm sorry,' said Tig, looking remorseful. 'I'm really sorry, kid.'

He pulled out his gun, but Jax came through the back door. Happy felt a slight relief. The kid might live after all.

'Jesus, you scared the shit out of me, man,' said Tig.

'Put down the gun,' said Jax with a hard look on his face.

'What?' said Tig, confused.

'We don't kill women,' said Jax.

'Whata doin' here, brother?'Chibs said.

Jax and Tig had a small stare down before Tig cocked his gun, pointing it at the girl and Jax responded with his own gun pointed at Tig's head.

'What the hell is this?' Happy asked Chibs, watching them intently. You never pull a gun on a brother.

'Put it down or I put a bullet in your temple,' Jax told Tig.

'You think you got the balls to do that?' asked Tig, not even flinching at the gun pointed at him.

There was a pause when Jax didn't have to say anything to answer the question. Holding the gun towards Tig's head was enough. Jax never backed down before and he most certainly wasn't going to start now. Happy and Chibs just looked on, watched as the girl's cries continued and Tig finally said, 'All right,' and put the gun on the table.

'You two get out of here,' said Jax, looking towards Happy and Chibs.

'This wasn't the plan,' said Happy, slightly angry, but trying to cover up part of his relief.

'You think this through,' said Chibs, pointing his finger at Jax.

'Go home,' said Jax. 'Now.'

Chibs spared the girl one more look before saying, 'Let's go,' and walking out the door with Happy.

'Fuck this, I'm going home,' said Happy, slightly frustrated as he walked to where their bikes were parked. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Yeah, see yea,' said Chibs, looking back at the house, not even matching Happy's speed.

Happy quickly put his helmet on and sped towards his house, his Charming house. Maya would have probably gotten back from Gemma's or wherever. They could probably have a quick one before heading off to bed. He knew she wanted to be there for Opie.

'Hey,' said Happy, entering the house and seeing Maya's back hunched over something on the coffee table. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, just looking at some stuff, nothing really,' said Maya, putting away some things in the bookshelf at the corner of the room. Ayesha insisted on having one of those. She loved books and had more than she (they, really) could afford.

'Everything went fine?' Maya asked. 'Did you get it done?'

'No,' said Happy, sighing. 'Better this way.'

'You gonna tell me about it?'

'Not this one,' said Happy. She nodded, understanding. He liked that about her. She barely pushed his buttons and knew when to pick her battles. Comes from years of marriage and years of having a stubborn kid.

'Well, we get to bed,' said Maya. 'Donna's funeral's tomorrow. I want to be there for Ope.'

A look of disappointment flashed across Happy faced and Maya rolled her eyes before pulling him towards the bedroom.

* * *

They arrived early in the morning at TM. Maya wanted to check on Opie, make sure he was fine and that the kids were okay. Getting off Happy's bike at TM, she first spotted Tig.

'Hey, doll, how you doin'?' he asked, hugging Maya.

'Good, where's Ope?' she asked.

'Over there, havin' a smoke,' said Tig, pointing his thumb over where Opie stood by himself.

Maya made her way towards him, but Tig pulled her back.

'Not now,' said Tig, shaking his head. 'We're about to leave soon. He needs to clear his head, be by himself. Talk to him later.'

Maya sighed, but agreed. Within five minutes, they loaded the casket into the hearse and the guys got on their bikes. Maya went with Gemma.

'Tara coming?' Maya asked.

'We'll see when we get there,' said Gemma and they road in silence to the cemetery.

Maya didn't spot Jax anywhere, but saw Opie again.

'Hey, Ope,' said Maya, forgetting Tig's words as she just wanted to hug Opie.

'Hey, Maya,' said Opie, sparing her a slight smile.

'Come here,' said Maya, as Opie wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbing his back. 'Everything's going to be fine, Opie. If you need anything, just ask me, okay?'

'Yeah,' said Opie, letting go of her.

'Come on, let's go,' said Maya as they walked towards where Donna was going to be buried.

Opie sat between his son and father, Piney. She would have loved to hug Piney, but now wasn't the moment. Maya stood behind Piney and Mary with Happy. Gemma was sitting beside Wendy, to Maya's surprise, and Tara was there. It looked as though everyone was there, everyone except Jax.

Just as the ministry began his speech, a little further away, Maya saw Jax walking towards them with grey sweatpants and a white shirt. He looked as though he just rolled out of bed or something. Tara got his cut from some guy with a Mohawk and walked towards him. She helped him put it on and then kissed him in front of everyone. Maya and Happy exchanged brief looks. Talk about making a statement at someone's funeral. Not really a good timing though.

Looking towards them, Jax walked towards where the blue flowers where and picked one up. Instead of putting it on Donna's casket, he just stared at Clay and Tig with such distaste on his face. He looked away, kissing the flower, laying it on the casket and walking away. Thomas went to go follow his brother.

Once everything was done, and Donna was buried, Piney got up and followed them as well.

'What was that about?' Maya asked Happy.

'I don't know,' said Happy, sighing. 'Some shit's wrong with the Tellers and Clay.'

* * *

Two weeks or so went by and they were still in Charming. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Charming was always home to Maya. Sure, bad stuff happened to her here, but it was still home and the place where she got her family. That always counts for something.

Opie looked as though he was lost and went on a very long ride that lasted many days. Maya looked after Ellie and Kenny whenever she could. Ellie looked like Opie while Kenny had Donna's hair and eyes. They needed their father, and Happy was clearly not it. Piney was mad at Opie, complaining every time he came to pick the kids up, but softened when he saw them. He was mad at Opie, not the kids.

She also helped out around the garage when Gemma went to the hospital for Abel's checkup. It got boring since everybody in the shop actually did their work, so Maya just stated playing solitaire on the computer. It was somewhere around mid-day when she actually heard the roar of engines coming into the lot. Standing in the doorway, she looks out and sees Opie, Jax and Thomas parking their bikes. Opie and Clay hug while the others greet their brother. Jax, Thomas and Piney talked for a bit. It seemed like Piney was frustrated before walking away. Jax looks back and walks over to Maya while Thomas walked inside the clubhouse.

'Hey,' said Jax, taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. 'Where's Ma?'

'At the hospital with Abel,' said Maya. 'Making sure Abel's fine. How's Opie doing?'

Jax took a deep breath before saying, 'He still trying to figure some shit out. He's trying to keep himself busy –'

'When is he going to see his kids?' Maya almost demanded. 'It's been days Jax, they need him. Me and Piney cannot keep looking after them like this. They need their –'

'I know, Maya, I know,' said Jax, sighing. 'Just… give him some time. Let him sort this shit out. I'm trying to take care of him, trying my best here, but it's going to take some time. Please, just look after his kids for a while with Piney. Please.'

He was giving her a pleading look, or something very close to that. Maya sighed before nodding.

'Everything okay with you and Piney?' Maya asked.

'Yeah, just some club shit to work out,' said Jax, stepping on his cigarette. 'You okay?'

'I'm fine,' said Maya. 'Still a bit freaked out about what happened to Donna, but I'm fine.'

Jax looked at her for a long time before asking, 'You heard from Ayesha yet?'

'No,' said Maya shortly. 'I don't know where she is and I don't know when she's coming back. I think you better go, Mohawk guy's calling for you.'

At the door to the clubhouse, Mohawk guy was waving towards Jax, trying to get his attention and signaling for him to come inside for the club meeting.

'His name's Juice,' said Jax. 'Not Mohawk guy.'

'Yeah, yeah, just go,' said Maya, shoving him a bit. Jax flashed her a smile before walking towards the clubhouse.

Sitting back on the chair, Maya contemplated something before taking out her phone. Happy went back to Tacoma for a couple hours to get something from their house. He said it was important, but didn't tell her what. She just nodded and he was out the door.

Dialing the number, Maya waited until it went to voicemail. She never customized her voicemail. It was the standardized one the phone company made. Once she heard the beep, Maya said, 'Hey, how are you? Me and your dad are still in Charming, if you wanted to drop by or something. Abel, Jax's kid, he's doing good. Looks like Jax too with that small turf of blond hair and blue eyes. Opie's still hurting, but the kids are getting better by the day. The guys have been asking about you, especially Thomas, wondering where you've been and if you were okay. They're also asking when you're coming back. I don't know what to say anymore. I keep repeating the same thing over and over again. I don't know where she is and I don't know when she's coming back…' Maya sighed. 'Your dad misses you. He tried to act like he doesn't but he does. It hurts him just as much as it hurts me. I hope you'll come and visit soon. I love you.'

And Maya closed her phone. She didn't even realise she was crying until Gemma came back from the hospital with Abel.

'Hey, how's he doing?' Maya asked, smiling at Abel.

'He's a fighter,' said Gemma, smiling at her grandson. 'He's going to be just fine. You okay there sweetheart?'

'Yeah, just got bored,' said Maya, picking Abel up from his stroller. He just smiled as Maya swung back and forth.

'People don't cry when they're bored,' Gemma said simply.

'Why don't you go and see Clay, I'm sure he's inside. I'll take care of Abel,' said Maya, avoiding the subject.

Gemma just looked at her, waiting for the answer to her question.

'Go, he'll be fine,' said Maya, nodding over to the clubhouse. 'I'll be fine.'

'He'll need to be changed and fed soon,' said Gemma. 'Come inside with us then.'

Maya just followed Gemma in. She was protective of her baby and didn't want his out of her sight. Once Gemma made sure Abel was fine, she went over to Clay. They were horny teenagers. Within five minutes of supposed talking, they were already heading towards the back. Maya just shook her head and looked at Abel.

'Horny teenagers,' Maya said simply. 'You'll be one soon enough.'

The croweaters at the bar were giving Maya dirty looks, wondering why she wasn't helping them with the party tonight. Maya just flashed her right wrist towards them and they averted their eyes elsewhere. You never disrespect an old lady, especially Happy's.

'Make sure the beer's stocked up,' she told one of them. She looked as though she had a pile of dog shit under her nose as Maya told her what to do. 'Bobby's coming back and everything has to go perfectly. Got it?'

Croweater nodded her head and grabbed another one to get the beer. Maya smiled. She liked that she had a certain about of people she could boss. Nobody said anything against her in Tacoma. She had a certain about of respect when it came to making sure her boys up there were taken care of.

'GET OUT!' Clay yelled.

Looking at the hallway, she saw a Prospect exit one of the rooms, walking towards her. Abel started to cry.

'Oh, it's okay, Abel,' Maya said soothingly. 'It's okay, baby, everything's fine.'

She bounced him up and down a little for a while, trying to calm him down.

'I'm sorry,' said the Prospect, looking guilty. 'I didn't mean to make him cry.'

'It's fine,' said Maya as Abel calmed down and just stared at the Prospect.

'I'm Half-Sack, by the way,' he said, sticking his hand out. Maya shook it.

'Half-Sack?' Maya asked.

'Yeah, um, my right testicle blown off in the war,' Half-Sack said with a hesitant laugh.

'What's your real name?' Maya asked.

'Kip Epps,' said Half-Sack.

'That sounds a lot better than Half-Sack,' said Maya. 'I'm Maya Lowman.'

'Happy's old lady?' Kip asked, his eyebrows rose.

'Yeah, problem?' Maya asked.

'No, it's just that,' Kip began nervously, 'he scared me a bit,' he said quietly.

'He scares everybody,' Maya said. 'Not saying he will, but he might warm up to you.'

He won't. Maya just wanted to reassure the nervous Prospect.

Once Gemma and Clay were done, Maya passed Abel back to his grandmother, who drove him back home to get some sleep. She and Clay made sure everything was ready for Bobby's party. She made sure all the food and booze were stocked up and Clay made sure the croweaters were right for Bobby's taste.

Just as the party got rolling, Happy spotted her near the doorway towards the clubhouse, drinking beer. He just got back and was definitely ready for Bobby's homecoming.

'Hey,' said Happy, kissing her. 'Everything alright?'

'Yeah, I think so,' said Maya. 'You got what you need?'

'Yeah,' said Happy, patting his cut.

'What is it?'

'Nothing,' said Happy, dismissing it.

'Come on, Hap,' said Maya. 'I'll find out soon enough. Might as well tell me now.'

'It's just a picture,' said Happy. 'I'll show you later.'

Maya raised her eyebrows at this, but didn't push it any further. He went inside to grab a bear and she saw Opie.

'Opie!' said Maya, waving him towards her. Guy with the Mohawk – Juice, was it? – followed him. 'Hey, Ope. How you've been doing?'

'Getting there,' said Opie, nodding. 'Just need to be with my family.'

'What about your kids, Ope?' said Maya.

'I'm trying, Maya,' said Opie, looking down. 'Just need more time. Are they okay?'

'They're getting there,' said Maya, sighing. 'They need you, Opie. They're getting better, but they're still hurting. You need to be with them first –'

'I know,' Opie snapped. 'I got it, okay?'

He walked off without waiting for her answer.

'Oh, that boy,' said Maya, slightly furious. Opie was still the little boy that used to help her cheat at playing video games to Maya. That never changed. Just like how Jax was still the little boy she used to look after to her. Just like how Ayesha was still her baby.

'He's going to be alright,' said Juice. 'Just needs sometime.'

'I know that,' said Maya. 'Everyone's been saying that to me.'

Juice just gave her a sympathetic look before walking away.

Within an hour the party was at its highest and the only thing left was for the man of the hour to show up. Maya stayed with Gemma the whole time, making sure everything was alright. She had grown into her role of an old lady. Always there for her man, making sure he and the club was alright. She wasn't Gemma, but she was still good.

'Hey,' said Thomas, walking up to her and kissing her cheek. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, why?' Maya asked.

'Just wondering,' said Thomas, shrugging. 'You – er – heard from –?'

'No,' said Maya firmly, shaking her head. 'Where's Jax?'

'Got some club stuff to take of,' said Thomas. 'For Donna.'

Maya nodded, understanding Opie and the club's desire for retaliation.

Just when she thought Bobby got here, it turned out to be someone else. A sliver car drove up at the lot and four men got out. One was dressed in a suit with hair greying at the roots while the other looked like he had something stuck up his ass. He was bald with a simple white button up shirt. He made Maya feel uneasy as she looked at him. The other two looked like bodyguards. They were bad news, all of them.

'Garage's closed,' said Clay as he and Tig walked towards the intruders. Happy moved closer towards Maya. He didn't like strangers being here as well. Thomas walked towards Clay, surveying the strangers.

'We're not here for, uh, car repairs,' said the man in the suit. 'I understand you're a Camacho fan.'

He held up a box of cigars towards Clay, but he didn't take it. At this, all the guys moved closer towards their President. Maya could still hear them from where she stood and could vaguely see who was talking.

'Who are you?' Clay asked.

'Just dropping by to give you a little friendly advice,' said the other man.

'And what advice would that be?' said Clay.

'We feel it would be best for all concerned if you stop dealing arms to the One Niners and the Mayans,' said the suit guy.

Some of the guys laughed at that. Maya wanted to laugh as well. The guy's got balls, but you never tell a Son what to do like that, especially not with that tone of voice.

'I don't even know what you're talking about,' said Clay with laughter still in his voice. 'I'm just a mechanic and a Harley lover.'

'That's one of Darby's guys right there,' said Tig a little more quietly without the laughter. Maya could still hear them. Happy called it her super power. Superhearing. But she was standing pretty close to them.

'Yes, Mr Darby is one of our supporters,' said suit guy.

Clay moved towards their car, before circling the man. 'Expensive car. Hell of a suit. All your teeth. Must be the top of the Aryan food chain?'

'What you do for a living is between you and your maker. I'm not here to adjust your moral compass. This is just a reality check. You're a criminal and you're done selling guns to colour.'

Tig pulled his gun out, that Maya could see and she could also see the look of distaste on Happy's face.

'Are you going to shoot me, Mr Trager? With all these witnesses?' said the suit man. Maya's pretty sure all these witnesses would still back SAMCRO up even if Tig was covered in that guy's blood.

'Look,' Clay begun, 'I don't know what Darby told you and I don't know what your angle is, but let me be real clear. Nobody threatens SAMCRO and nobody tells us what we can and cannot do. Black, brown or white. So, why don't you just climb back into your little German clown car and drive back to Nazi town? 'Cause the next time you piss all over my shoes, he will kill you. I don't give a shit how many witnesses there are,' he nodded his head towards Tig.

'My shop opens in a few weeks. Until then, enjoy,' said the suit man as the lay the box of cigars on the ground at Clay's feet.

They retreated back to their car while Gemma walked up to Clay. The creepy one dumped into Gemma and she gave him a strange look. Happy and some of the other guys made sure they got into their car and left the lot.

'Who was that?' Maya asked Happy once the intruders left. Gemma left to check up on Abel.

'Cigar shop owners,' said Happy. 'Nothing you should worry about.'

'Yeah, cause that's not going to happen,' said Maya, rolling her eyes, about to walk away when Happy grabbed her hand.

'Hey,' said Happy. 'Nothing's going to happen to you. No point in worrying about that guy.'

Maya gave a half-smile and moved closer towards him and kissed the tattoo just below his collarbone. _I live I die I kill for my family. _If only all of his family were here right now.

The party went on as though two strangers didn't just roll up and tell the Sons what to do. And soon enough, another car pulled up into the garage, this time with Bobby inside. He got out and everyone was cheering and raising their glasses towards him. The guys greeted him with his cut and many pats on the back. Maya saw Clay laughing towards Stahl. Gemma told her about the ATF agent trying to get SAMCRO behind bars. Maya couldn't care less about her.

'Hey, Bobby!' said Maya just as he came up and hugged her. 'Good to see you on the other side.'

'Good to be here. Got a lot to catch up on, got it?' he said, smiling as Clay walked towards him with his arms open yelling, 'Bobby!'

They made sure he got comfortable and had his first pick of croweaters, which were the ones Clay already got for him. Weren't the prettiest, or the fittest, but were definitely Bobby's type.

'That is so…' Maya said as she watched Bobby devour his pick of the night. 'Sick.'

Happy laughed and put his arms around Maya's waist from behind, bringing her closer. She could feel his erection on her leg.

'If you're getting a hard one will watching Bobby and his… dinner, then we're not doing this,' said Maya, turning her head slightly.

Happy just started to kiss Maya's jaw and down her neck. Trying to find something to distract her from Happy, she found nothing and just took him to the back. They fell down on the bed, kissing fiercely before Maya pulled away.

'What's the picture?' she whispered as Happy's hands stalled. He sighed before reaching into his cut and showing it to her. It was her, Happy and Ayesha at the beach. Emilia took it when the four of them went to go celebrate Happy getting out of jail. Ayesha was about nine or ten when this happened. She looked so happy, so small, so… real. She had a Son sweater on despite how hot it was at the time.

'Why do you have this?' Maya asked.

'Every time I go on a run or something, I have this with me,' said Happy, putting the picture back. 'Something to keep me going, you know? Everything I do is for the three of you. You, my mom and… Ayesha.'

It hurts him when he talks about his daughter. She picked up all her stuff and just left. She was Happy's world. Emilia told her when Ayesha was born that daughters soften their father's hearts. It was so true. She brightened up the darkness in Happy's heart. Maya and Emilia were nothing compared to Ayesha's spark. So when she disappeared, without a goodbye, it definitely stung.

'Did you keep this picture because I'm in a bikini?' Maya asked, trying to stop whatever Happy's train of thought was, though she did have an idea.

'You think very highly of yourself,' said Happy, going back to kissing her and taking her shirt and jeans off.

'Well, somebody's got to,' Maya mumbled as she help him take off his shirt.

Maya kissed him before lowering herself on him. They tried to take things slow, take their time, but no matter how much they try, they always seem to lose control towards the end. They ended up sleeping there as Maya drew lazy circles around Happy's tattoos.

* * *

Thomas picked the croweater with the dark hair and brown eyes from the corner. He just wanted to fuck and so did she. So when they were done, she left and he went to the kitchen to get a beer. He couldn't even remember her name. Did he even ask for one? Hell, he can't remember. He can't even remember how she looked.

It's been two years and all he could see was Ayesha's face. He's tried to forget her, he really has, but it's impossible. Everything good in his life reminds Thomas of her, and sometimes even the bad things. He's fucked every chick that has come through those doors, but he couldn't get Ayesha out of his mind.

Every time one of the croweaters moaned, all he could think about was Ayesha moaning under him, gasping with pleasure as they moved together. He could never get her out of his head.

He's even tried a relationship with this girl that work in the supermarket. Her named was Lena. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She was kind and soft spoken, but it just wasn't working out for the two of them, and she understood when he explained to her about Ayesha.

She was still an impact on his life from wherever she was. Thomas hated Ayesha for that. But he could never hate her.

* * *

Sometime in the middle of the night, Maya's cellphone rang. Struggling to get an eye open, she picked it up.

'Hello?' Maya said with a yawn.

'Maya? It's Gem,' she said. 'I need you. Can you come over to Tara's?'

Maya sat up straight at the tone of Gemma's voice. It was different. Gemma had a confident voice that matched her confident personality. She was a rock and Queen of SAMCRO, but this wasn't right.

'Yeah, just tell me the address,' said Maya, trying to put her pants on with one hand. Once she wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper, she wrote a small note to Happy saying she would be back soon. It was around two in the morning when she laid eyes on Gemma again.

She was sitting on Tara's couch with a bathrobe while Tara cleaned the cut on her left cheek. Her lips were split and she looked as though she were broken. Unser was there as well, looking as though he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

'Jesus Christ, Gemma, what happened?' Maya asked, taking a seat next to her.

'You should know,' said Gemma, her eyes cast down as Maya told her right hand into hers carefully.

'Maybe we should let her rest a while,' said Unser, getting up from the chair.

'Get her to the hospital,' said Tara immediately to Unser.

'No,' said Gemma, shaking her head.

'I can't treat you in my living room,' said Tara, looking at Gemma.

'Look, I'd have to check in. The insurance and shit. Everybody'll know.'

'We'll go home, get you some clothes, then pick up Abel,' said Tara after a slight pause. 'We'll sign him in. We'll say we're running more test.'

'You could get fired for that,' said Gemma.

'We'll figure it out,' said Tara.

'Promise me you won't tell anyone,' said Gemma.

'Gemma,' said Tara.

'You're kidding me, right?' said Maya, disbelief all over her face. 'Gemma, you have to tell someone. You can't keep this inside; it's too big of a secret. They'll want to know.'

'Well, you kept it in perfectly okay before,' said Gemma. 'You can do it again this time. Promise.'

'We've got to tell Clay,' Unser argued.

'Not Clay. Not Jax. Not Thomas. Not Happy. No one. All right?' said Gemma, shaking her head.

Maya, Tara and Unser shared a brief look before Unser said, 'All right.'

Gemma looked at Tara. 'I won't say anything.'

Gemma then turned to Maya, who was still not happy about this. 'Yeah, fine.'

Tara packed up her kit and Maya help.

'They're going to see her face,' Tara whispered towards her and Unser.

'I know,' said Unser, looking at Maya and Tara. 'Stay with her, all right?'

And he left the house. Maya and Tara sat down on either side of Gemma, holding her hand, telling her silently that she was not alone in this.

* * *

Once they got Abel and got Gemma to the hospital, Tara took them to a private dark room to check on her. There were small tears that would heal on its own and she would be on antibiotics right away. There was a knock on the door and Maya heard Unser's voice.

'Sorry to interrupt, doc. I need a word with Gemma.'

'Let him in,' said Gemma.

Unser walked into the room and Tara made sure that nobody followed him and that nobody saw him.

'What is it?' Gemma asked.

'Clay's here,' said Unser.

'You son of a bitch.'

'I told him you were in a car accident.'

'What?'

'Ran your caddy into a concrete barrier out by the utility shed. Take my head off if you want. I just didn't see any other way to sell this.'

'He's right, Gem,' said Maya. 'It's the only way to explain your cuts.'

'He don't know about nothing else,' said Unser.

'I'll go and talk to him,' said Tara.

'I don't want to see him yet,' said Gemma.

'Actually,' said Unser, continuing, 'they're all here. Jax and the guys.'

'Jesus Christ,' said Gemma, irritated. 'Is there anyone you didn't tell?'

'I'll handle it,' said Tara.

'I'll come,' said Maya, standing up and lightly touching Gemma's shoulder as she exited the room.

'Can… Can I ask you something?' Tara asked Maya, stopping a bit from the visitor's waiting room.

'Sure, shoot,' said Maya, crossing her arms.

'What did Gemma mean when she said, 'you should know' back in the house?' Tara asked.

Maya looked at her for a while, trying to decide whether or not Tara should be trusted. She did leave once, she could do it again. But Maya knew Jax still loves her and nobody would just jeopardize their job for someone like that.

'Tara, are you going to stay in Charming, or are you going to pick up and leave all of a sudden?' Maya asked, taking a step closer to her.

'I'm not going anywhere,' said Tara with conviction in her voice.

Maya smiled before saying, 'what happened to Gemma happened to me a long time ago. I kept the secret for a while until they all found out one day.'

'You've been beaten and raped?' Tara asked, shocked.

'Yeah, every day while I was married to that piece of shit,' said Maya, taking a deep breath. 'It was a long time ago.'

'It's not Happy, is it?' Tara asked.

'No,' Maya snapped. 'Happy wouldn't do anything like that in his life. It was somebody else, and that's all you need to know. It's in the past, but we have to focus on Gemma now. You're an old lady, Tara.'

'How do you handle it, being an old lady?' Tara asked.

'I love Happy,' said Maya, shrugging. 'I grew to love the club. They were there for me and help me. Without any of them, I would probably be fifty feet under right now.'

'Hey,' said someone behind Maya. She turned around to see Jax walking to them and giving Tara a kiss. 'How is she?'

'She's fine,' said Tara. 'Just a few bruises.'

'I'll let Clay know she's fine,' said Maya, turning away from the couple, but Tara and Jax followed her.

'What's going on? Is she okay?' Clay asked Tara, walking up to her.

'Yeah, um, when she hit the barrier, she took a pretty good shot to the face,' said Tara, nodding. 'There's some swelling. I have to run a few more tests, but she's going to be fine.'

'But, uh, it's nothing serious, right? Can I see her?' Clay asked, looking anxious.

'It's gonna be a while,' said Tara.

'I appreciate you taking care of her, doc,' said Clay sincerely.

'Of course,' said Tara, and she walked away, going to do her job.

'Hey,' said Chibs, putting his right arm around her shoulder as Clay and Jax talked about something. 'How did you get here do fast?'

'Gemma called and I got here as soon as I could,' said Maya, shrugging. 'She and Luann are my best friends, Chibby.'

'Feds raided Luann's studio,' said Unser, standing a few feet away from them. 'Asset seizure. Wiped her out.'

'Me and Ope will go deal with Otto,' said Jax.

'Ope goes with Tig,' Clay said immediately. 'Take Bobby. He can use the fresh air.'

They all turned to look at Bobby as she was passed out on a stretcher. _Oh, Bobby _Maya thought, shaking her head at him. He partied too hard and got in too deep with shared pussy.

'Me and Tommy'll go deal with it,' said Jax, looking at Clay and walking out with Thomas beside him.

'I'm coming with you to Luann's,' said Maya. 'She's my friend and I'm coming. Don't even, Clay.' She said just as Clay opened his mouth.

'I was going to say you should go,' said Clay, smiling a bit. 'Make sure she's alright. Half-Sack, wake Bobby up and make sure he's sober then take up to the studio.'

'You'll ride with me, Maya,' said Chibs as they all walked to the parking lot where Chibs handed her a helmet and she got on the bike. The two of them and Juice drove to Luann's studio and waited for Jax, Bobby and Kip. There was a cop car outside, but no one in it. Maya sat on the car, getting comfortable.

'Why do you have tats on your head?' Maya asked Juice. 'Like, why? Just why?'

'You're married to Happy,' said Juice, smiling. 'This is nothing compared to his.'

'No, no, no,' said Maya, rebuking. 'You have a Mohawk and two tats on either side. Yours is worse than his.'

'How can I – ?' Juice began, but Maya's phone started vibrating. It was Happy.

'Hey,' said Maya, walking a few feet away from them. 'You okay?'

'Yeah,' said Happy from the other line. 'Heading up to Tacoma for a while. Lee needs my help. You coming?'

'I don't know. Gemma needs me here. She got into a car crash and Luann's studio just got wiped out. I don't know when I'm heading up there. At least not for a while,' Maya sighed, rubbing her forehead.

'Yeah, take care of your girls, I should be back soon, then,' said Happy, understanding how important Gemma and Luann are in her life.

'Okay, I'll talk to you later then,' said Maya. 'I love you.'

'Love you too,' said Happy and they hung up.

'Aww, isn't that cute?' said Chibs, smiling at her.

'Shut up, Chibs,' said Maya, rolling her eyes as Juice laughed. 'So what, I love him. It's not like we all don't know this.'

'You love him,' said Chibs in a sing song voice as he and Juice did some weird dance move and chanted that. Maya laughed until she got another call. Her smile faded when she said the caller id.

'Shut up,' Maya snapped, turning away from them. She picked up the phone. 'Hey, how are you?'

'Um, I'm fine,' said Ayesha on the other line. She sounded out of breath and tired. 'How are you? How's Dad?'

'We're fine,' said Maya quickly. 'Where are you? Did you get my message? Are you coming home?'

Even though she couldn't see her daughter, Maya knew she was smiling.

'I'm fine,' said Ayesha. 'I got your message. I'm coming home soon.'

'You said that before,' said Maya. 'When are you really coming home?'

'Soon,' Ayesha insisted. 'I promise.'

'Don't make promise you cannot keep,' Maya said.

'But those are the best kind, aren't they?' said Ayesha. 'The ones that you wish came though; the ones you hope came through.' She sighed. 'I'll see you soon.' And she hung up.

Closing her phone, she knew she was going to start crying soon. It was the same every time. Ayesha called and Maya cried. It was a pattern that kept on repeating over and over again.

'You okay?' Juice asked, noticing the distressed look on her face.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' said Maya, quickly wiping her face. She cannot look weak now, not in front of Chibs and Juice.

'Was it Ayesha?' Chibs asked, knowing who was breaking Maya's heart like that. He was there when they had to restrain Happy and when Maya cried on Thomas's shoulders. She was a tough old lady and the only thing that made her break like that was her kid.

'Yeah, she says she's fine and she'll be back soon,' said Maya, attempting a smile.

'Who's Ayesha?' Juice asked, looking between Maya and Chibs.

'My kid,' said Maya. 'I don't know where she is.'

'She left?' Juice asked.

'Enough,' said Chibs. 'They're here.'

Jax, Thomas, Bobby and Kip just rolled up. Bobby still looked a bit zoned out, but was doing better. Chibs was saying something very fast to Juice, probably something about not mentioning Ayesha to her.

'You okay?' Jax asked just as he passed her and was about to go inside the studio.

'Yeah, I'll tell you later,' said Maya, knowing Jax will want to know everything and won't stop until she just gives up and spills it out.

Jax stared at her for a second before they followed him inside the studio. Luann was hugging two of her stars when Chibs said, 'Marvelous,' in admiration.

There were some cops inside and they looked as though they nearly wiped Luann out.

'Otto wasn't kidding,' said Jax, looking around.

'Hey, how are you?' said Maya, hugging Luann and rubbing her back slightly.

Luann just huffed and shook her head. She was clearly very pissed off.

'That's some lovely merchandise walking out that door,' said Chibs as the two porn stars Luann was hugging walked out the door.

'And they'll keep walking if I don't come up with the rest of their money,' said Luann, glaring at Jax.

'Otto said some guy's giving you trouble?' Jax asked.

'George Caruso,' said Luann. 'Shitbag's threatening my girls if they don't join his company.'

Juice chuckled and they looked at him. 'His name's Georgie?'

'Can't you just talk to him?' said Jax, turning away from Juice to Luann. 'Make some kind of temporary arrangement?'

'Isn't how it works with this,' said Luann. 'Georgie's game is fear. Goddam Roy crew runs his girls like pimp's running pussy. If I could just get the money I loaned SAMCRO –'

'That's not going to happen today,' said Jax, shaking his head. 'Look, I said to Otto I'd back this guy off of you, and that's what I'm gonna do. Where's this guy's office?'

'Jackson, don't go stirring things up with this –'

'Where's his office?' Thomas said, leaving no argument in his voice.

Luann told them and Maya stayed with Luann trying to savage whatever they could from the studio until Luann got a call saying that one of her stars – Lyla or something – got attacked and was now in St. Thomas waiting for her.

'Jesus Christ,' said Luann as they entered the hospital and say Lyla sitting on one of those chairs with a bloody nose. One of the nurses passed Maya an ice bag and a towel before hurrying about.

'Call Jax,' said Maya to Luann. 'Tell him to come down here quickly. I got her.'

Turning to Lyla, Maya gently wiped some of the blood away from her nose and mouth. 'You okay?' Maya asked. 'They hurt you anywhere else?'

'No,' said Lyla with a slight shake of her head. 'But they told me to tell you something.'

'What?' said Luann immediately.

'Caruso wanted me to tell you that if the little biker boys show up again, he's going to roll the cameras while he jams his dick up all your asses.'

'Fuck,' said Maya quietly. She looked at Lyla's nose inspecting it. 'It doesn't look broken, though. Tip your head back and put the ice to your nose.'

They stayed with Lyla while Luann was very angry and kept pacing the small space, waiting for Jax to come.

'I told you not to stir things up,' Luann said immediately as she spotted Jax and Chibs. 'Look at what that asshole did to her.'

Jax took the ice bag away from her face slightly to check her nose. 'This was Caruso?'

'Who do you think?' said Luann, throwing her hands up a bit.

'Little prick,' said Chibs, looking angry as he looked at Lyla's nose.

'You guys must have _really_ put the fear of god into him,' said Luann sarcastically. 'Tell them what Georgie said.'

'He told me to tell Luann that if the little biker boys show up again, he's going to roll the cameras while he… jams his dick up all your asses,' said Lyla, sounding slightly hesitant.

'We'll see Gemma later,' said Jax to Chibs as they started to walk out.

'Jax, don't you do anything!' said Luann.

'Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!' Jax demanded, walking back to Luann. 'Get her patched up! Call the rest of your talent, tell them to lock their goddamn doors!'

'Sorry,' said Luann meekly, doing what Jax said immediately.

'I gotta go,' said Maya, not wanting to be around here anymore. 'I'll call you later, Luann.'

She kissed her cheek and did the same with Jax and Chibs before walking out of the hospital and driving back to her house. She grabbed a couple beers and watched some TV. It was a stressful day and Maya needed to unwind.

It was around one in the morning when she heard someone pull up her driveway. Looking out the window, she saw Jax walking towards the door.

'Hey, what's wrong?' Maya asked, opening the door before he could knock.

'Just wanted to check up on you,' said Jax, shrugging. 'Back at Luann's studio, something was wrong. You okay? Want me to send Tommy over?'

'No, I'm fine, Jackson,' said Maya, smiling at him. 'You're a very sweet boy and you should go home.'

'Sweet boy?' said Jax, raising his eyebrows with a slightly smile. 'You're kidding me, right?'

'Jax, you'll always be the little boy that I looked after and the one that wore a suit to my wedding,' said Maya was a little laugh at his expression of that memory. 'You don't have to check up on me.'

'Just wanted to make sure you're alright,' said Jax. 'Bobby got shot by the Mayans. They're in the clubhouse, but nothing too bad. Bullet went straight through.'

'Shit,' said Maya, closing her eyes. 'Yeah, I'll lock my doors and keep an eye out.'

'Stay safe,' Jax warned her. He kissed her cheek before getting on his bike and driving off. Maya locked her door and barred the windows. She contemplated calling Happy or Ayesha, but they were far away and she hoped they were safe. Maya could only hope at this point.

**Thank you for reading!**


	8. Chapter 2

**disclaimer: I own nothing! Hope you like it!**

Chapter 2

'So, are you ever going to call your parents, corazon?' Luciana asked her grandniece as she sat on her kitchen table, rubbing her eyes.

'Soon,' Ayesha mumbled, tried as she just got back from the city. She looked dead tired and she put her right hand over her ribs, wincing.

'Got into a fight?' Luciana asked, putting down a plate of toast in front of her. Ayesha's food diet was quite alarming over the past two years. She kept eating less and less every day and when there was food available, she could only consume very little.

'I'm a Lowman, tía, trouble always finds me,' Ayesha said, picking at the toast. 'You know that.'

'You should call your Ma,' Luciana said. It was an argument they have had before in the past and now it just feels like déjà vu. Call your parents, go to them, talk to them. It was the same thing every time Ayesha visited her, but she was stubborn and was intent on thinking that she was doing the right thing.

'Later,' said Ayesha. 'I'm tired.'

'When was the last time you slept for more than three hours?'

'Er… last Tuesday?' Ayesha said uncertainly. 'I dunno know, tía…'

She left the sentence hanging as she leaned against her chair, looking up at the ceiling. Ayesha has been running for two years, always looking over her shoulder, always scared. Barely eating and not even sleeping, she was losing herself to her fears.

Luciana always thought that her sister's granddaughter was beautiful. She might be biased, but it's the truth. Ayesha had think, long ebony hair with eyes that are just as dark. She has her mother's delicate features but has her father's eyes and dimples when she smiles. Her body used to be healthy. Not too fat, not too thin, it was somewhere in between that made her feel and look confident.

But now it's different. Her hair doesn't look as healthy as it used to be and her face's hollowed out. Her eyes have many bags under them and Luciana could see the bones in her arms and chest area. Being away for two years has taken the beauty out of her grandniece, but it's there somewhere, she just needs to see her family again.

'I'm just gonna go sleep, tía,' Ayesha said, getting up very slowly with a small yawn. 'Night…'

It was morning.

Luciana sighed before looking at the empty coffee mug in front of her. She loves her sister very much, but she there are times when she can't do this for Emilia. When they were little they would use the 'no-questions' rule for favours they need, but Luciana needed to know why her nephew and wife were hurting because of their daughter.

She remembers the day when she visited Happy and Maya in the hospital after the birth of Ayesha. Oh, how happy the two of them were. How full of life and love they had between each other. Maya was the right girl for Happy. She kept him headed north and made sure he knew where his priorities were. But nobody could have predicted the storm that was his daughter. If Maya was the one that kept him grounded, then Ayesha was his love, the only thing he cared about.

As far as Luciana knew, they were a happy family living in Tacoma and before that, Charming. She would go and visit them every once in a while, but it was hard when she was living in Brooklyn, the other side of the country.

She visited them about a year ago. They clearly still loved each other, but it was different now. Things were strained and Luciana knew Maya blamed herself. That's what mother's do and Luciana knew the feeling.

When Luciana gave birth to her first and only baby, it was a boy and she named him David. He was so beautiful and full of life. Her husband left her after three years together and Luciana told him to go to hell, she only needed her baby. David and Happy would have grown up together. They would have been brothers. But a car hit him when he was five and she never saw his smiling face again. Luciana blamed herself. She should have kept an eye on him, she should have told him to stay inside, she should have done so many things…

This was how Maya was feeling that day when she poured her heart out to Luciana. Happy wasn't in the house that time and Maya let loose. She couldn't do it in front of Happy because she needed to be strong for him. If she crumbled, he crumbled. Maya told her exactly how she felt, blabbering through her tears, wondering why her only child left her. Wondering why her daughter didn't come to her with her problems. Wondering when her daughter stopped trusting her.

Luciana didn't know what to do except hug her. She couldn't say things were going to get better because it's not true, not even remotely true. The pain will always be there and she knows it all too well. Sometimes when she looks at Happy, or even Ayesha, she can sometimes see traces of her son in them. It never goes away.

She has tried multiple times to get the truth out of Emilia, but her sister is just as relentless as her granddaughter. All she said was that Ayesha was in trouble and needed her family's help, but Luciana didn't understand why she wouldn't just go to Maya or Happy. Nothing beats a mother or a father's protection. But either Emilia or Ayesha listened to her and Luciana just did what she was asked.

She doesn't see Ayesha much. She comes and goes whenever she wants, only popping in for a day or two before leaving again. Where she goes, Luciana can only guess. This was her fifth visit in the last two years and each time Luciana tried to convince her to go back home to her family. It was always 'Later' or 'Not the right time'. It was getting annoying and Luciana wanted her nephew's family to be whole again.

Emilia loves Ayesha to pieces. This was all her idea. Running away for her own protection and wiring her money under false names, her sister was like an evil genius. Emilia understands the importance of family; it was embedded into her when their father left them with their dead beat of a mother. They stayed strong together and managed to survive when their mother died, leaving a 15 and a 19 year old alone. Luckily, Emilia managed to adopt her before she got thrown into a foster home.

Family is important. You always look towards family for strength. Luciana looked towards Emilia when her son died and Emilia did the same when Pablo left her and Happy. So when Luciana was asked to do this favour for her sister, she was stumped.

Lost on her own thoughts, Luciana jumped when she heard someone speaking from the other room. It took her a minute before realizing that Ayesha was in there sleeping. She walked to the room quietly to see her grandniece thrashing around on her bed due to a nightmare.

'Ayesha,' said Luciana, shaking her. 'Ayesha, baby, wake up…'

Her eyes snapped open and there was definite fear in them. Ayesha's arms looked as though they were ready to strike and Luciana held them at bay. She was sweating and out of breath. For a moment, she looked around the room, remembering where she was.

'You're safe here, cariño,' said Luciana, hugging her closely. 'You're safe, there's nothing to worry about…'

But Ayesha didn't hug her back. Luciana noticed this happening to her over the years, her hugs less frequent and barely returned. She kept her guard up. Every time Luciana hugged her, Ayesha's arms stiffened and were kept where they were.

'I know, I know,' said Ayesha, sounding distant. 'Just a nightmare.'

* * *

But it wasn't a nightmare. It was everything that happened that night. It was everything she was scared of and all her fears wrapped into one nightmare.

After reassuring her grandaunt that she was fine, Ayesha leaned against the wall, sitting on the bed, thinking and still out of breath.

For a brief moment in her life, she had it all. A good family, people that cared about her, she was in university and she was happy.

She had SAMCRO and SAMTAC behind her everyway with her mother and father beside her. She missed them. She missed Bobby, Piney, Clay, Lee and Marshall. She missed Gemma and Luann. She missed Kozik, Tig and Chibs. She missed Jax and Opie. She really missed her brothers. She missed Emilia. She missed Happy. She missed Maya.

She missed Thomas. She missed her best friend. He was everything to her. He's always been there, no matter what. Whenever the jerks from her high school picked on her, he would always come to Tacoma to make sure she was okay. When he heard about Glenn Benson asking her to suck his dick, it was Thomas that beat the shit out of him. Thomas always protected Ayesha, despite her many attempts in telling him that she could handle it. But he never listened and she loved him.

She always knew she loved him, but pushed it away thinking that it was some sort of brotherly love like how Maya loves Piney, but it was much more than that. When he first visited her in Tacoma for her birthday, she didn't care who came as long as Thomas was there. She always smiled with him around, which was always easy to do since everyone loved him. And his eyes always reminded her of the ocean the first time she went to the beach. All the good things in her life involved him, and she hated that deep hollow feeling in her chest.

Knowing at any moment she would start crying soon, Ayesha got out of the room and took a shower. At least her tears would be covered up by the water.

She ran her hand through her wet hair after she was done. It's not the same. It's not her hair. Her hair was her pride. Her hair was Maya's. Her hair used to be thick and black. Her hair was something she prided herself on. It's not the same anymore.

And her eyes were hollowed out. They used to be full of life. It was dark like her father's, but with Happy they were hardened with years of being known as Killer. Ayesha was a different story. Her eyes used to twinkle and shine bright. Now… she was definitely the Tacoma Killer's daughter.

Then there were the bags under her eyes. Her bags even had bags. Ayesha can't even remember the last time she slept through the night. She can't even remember the last meal she ate. Gas station food and coffee all day doesn't count.

Then there were the scars on her body that accumulated over the last two years. She's always looking for a fight. She learned how to fight when she was three from Otto and Lenny, but that was some pre-school bullshit. Jax and Opie showed her the basics, but it was Thomas that really showed her how to handle herself. She has to fight to remind herself that she's alive. She needs that rush of terror because it's in her DNA. She's been in many bar fights and ones in the ally way and can handle herself. But the pain she feels after one is what she really needs to prove that she's human, if not she's going to lose her mind.

Glancing over to her phone, she saw the small red flash at the top telling her that she has a message. Knowing that it's from her mom because her father's stopped calling her after a while, she listened to it.

'_Hey, how are you? Me and your dad are still in Charming, if you wanted to drop by or something. Abel, Jax's kid, he's doing good. Looks like Jax too with that small turf of blond hair and blue eyes. Opie's still hurting, but the kids are getting better by the day. The guys have been asking about you, especially Thomas, wondering where you've been and if you were okay. They're also asking when you're coming back. I don't know what to say anymore. I keep repeating the same thing over and over again. I don't know where she is and I don't know when she's coming back… You're dad misses you. He tried to act like he doesn't care but he does. It hurts him just as much as it hurts me. I hope you'll come and visit soon. I love you._'

Maya's voice kept cracking throughout the whole message. She's waiting for Ayesha to come back. It would have been so easy for her to do that. Just go back to Charming, walk into TM, greet her mother, great the people she considered family, hug her father, hug Thomas, and have her old life again.

But it's never that easy.

Emilia said two years and everything would disappear. Only then will she be able to come back. Only then will everything be safe. Ayesha wanted to make sure nothing went back to the club or her family. The shit that's going on with her is her business and she's not going to drag them down with her.

But going back to that life would be perfect for her. Just to go see the guys, see Thomas; see Ope and his kids and Jax and his newborn.

Ellie and Kenny must be about four or something. She still remembers the day when the twins were born. Opie looked as though he didn't know what the hell to do with kids. He still probably doesn't, but he's good with them. He loves them to bits. And he loves Donna. Ayesha should have been there. She should have been there for Ope. She should have been there for her brother. And she should have been there for Jax. Abel was hanging between life and death, and Ayesha was still running.

Ayesha's pathetic. She's the worst. There are day when she can't even look at herself in the mirror. She's disgusted by herself, but this is what needs to be done. Oh, she really hates herself.

Dialing the number, Ayesha held her breath and waited until she heard her mother's voice.

'Hey, how are you?' Maya said instantly.

'Um, I'm fine,' said Ayesha, still sounding out of breath and tired. 'How are you? How's Dad?'

'We're fine,' said Maya quickly. 'Where are you? Did you get my message? Are you coming home?'

Ayesha smiled and said, 'I'm fine. I got your message. I'm coming home soon.'

'You said that before,' said Maya sadly. 'When are you really coming home?'

'Soon,' Ayesha insisted. 'I promise.'

'Don't make promises you cannot keep.'

'But those are the best kind, aren't they?' said Ayesha, swallowing the lump in her throat because she knows that in any second she's going to start crying. 'The ones that you wish came though; the ones you hope came through.' She sighed. 'I'll see you soon.' And she hung up.

'I'm so sorry,' Ayesha mumbled to no one as tears streamed down her face while she sat on the toilet. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

* * *

'Are you sure you have to leave so soon?' Luciana asked. 'You can stay a bit longer. Take a nap or two and gain some weight…'

She looked at Ayesha, who in the last two days, seemed to have gotten worse. She really needed to eat a proper meal but she stays out late into the night and just picks at whatever Luciana put in front of her.

'Yeah, I just need to go,' Ayesha said vaguely as she checked to make sure her things were in the car. 'Things to do…'

'Are you going home?' Luciana asked.

'Soon,' Ayesha said, sighing before turning to her grandaunt and flashing a strained smile.

'Come here, then,' said Luciana, pulling her into a big hug, which she barely returned. 'I hope you find whatever you're looking for.'

Ayesha nodded absentmindedly, slowly patting Luciana's back. Luciana gave her a kiss on her cheek and gave her a Tupperware of brownies.

'I can't,' Ayesha resisted, pushing it back towards her, but Luciana was having none of it.

'You are taking these brownies, and I'm hearing none of your excuses,' said Luciana, shaking her head.

Ayesha tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. She took the brownies slowly and nodded her head in thanks. She got into her old blue Jeep. Happy used to say that it was a piece of shit, and Thomas offered many times to tear it up and sell the bits, but Ayesha loved her car and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. She backed out of the driveway and waved at her grandaunt. Turning on the radio, Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones started playing.

Ayesha sighed. She needs to go home.

'Soon,' she told herself. 'Just not the right time.'

A picture of Maya and Happy flashed through her mind and Ayesha rubbed her eyes, trying to stop herself from crying again. But when she stopped for gas, and glanced at a boy with dark blond hair and bright blue eyes, she cried.

**Thank you for reading!**


	9. AUTHOR'S QUESTION!

**I was wondering how you guys would feel if I re-did this whole story with Thomas alive. I was thinking about this a lot in my head and I really want your opinion on this. This will change some of the plot and the one's I've planned out, but I will still keep Ayesha running away and the whole thing behind that. **

**So, what do you think?**

**Thomas, yea or nay?**

**Tell you what you think! Review or PM me, please! **


	10. IMPORTANT NOTE!

**Thank you for all the people that gave me their input on whether or not Thomas should live or die. **

**HE'S ALIVE!**

**So, I update Prologue III, Prologue VI, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. You don't really have to reread Prologue III, I just changed Thomas's eyes to John's eyes, so they're blue. Also, for Chapter 1, I didn't go into much detail on Thomas's role with the club. I want to know what you guys think before I go on to Chapter 3. If you do like it, then that chapter will go more into Thomas. And he's not just some love interest for Ayesha, he does have an important role. **

**Tell me what you think! Thank you for your reviews!**


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